Sanders family to compete in separate Runoff elections on June 21

Published 12:27 pm Wednesday, May 25, 2022

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The Sanders will be spending the next month getting ready for Run Off Elections.

Hank Sanders tries to regain his old State Senator seat against newcomer Robert Stewart.

Current State Senator Mailka Fortier, Sanders’ daughter, will go up against Yolanda Flowers in a Democratic Primary run off.

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Both run off elections will take place on June 21.

Fortier and Flowers will decide who challenges incumbent Governor Kay Ivey in November.

Flowers finished with 56,859 votes or 33.8 percent of the vote. Fortier was second with 54,636 votes of 32.5 percent to force a runoff.

Hank Sanders won six of the eight counties: Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Lowndes, Monroe and Wilcox. He received a total of 10,662 votes or 44.7 percent.

Stewart won Dallas County by 51.5 percent, the only area he won. He received 7,160 votes or 30.1 percent.

Former Selma Mayor Darrio Melton finished third and won the other County, Perry County.  Melton received 5,531 votes or 23.3 percent.

Stewart said he is grateful to make the runoff election.

“Being in this race to serve as Alabama State Senator for District 23, the region I was born and reared in has been the honor of a lifetime,” Stewart said.

“We’ve traveled so many miles and engaged with so many amazing people. Our fight to build a sustainable future and transformation for the region is continuous and I look forward to being at the forefront of it.”

Fortier credited her husband, the Rev. Dr. Franklin Fortier for her successful campaign.

“Just five short days ago the polls indicated I couldn’t make a run off. But God,” Fortier said. “ The Rev. Dr. Franklin Fortier coached me all the way through this race.”