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Gov. Riley a loser along with McKinney in Baldwin senate race Gov. Bob Riley's unusual endorsement in a Republican contest did not help state school board member Randy McKinney win a state senate seat nomination in Baldwin County Tuesday. Fairhope businessman Lee "Trip" Pittman won the GOP nod with about 56 percent of the vote, a pretty good whipping for McKinney- and for the popular governor. The special election for the Alabama Senate District 32 seat is to fill the vacancy created when Bradley Byrne was appointed chancellor of the state's two-year college system. Pittman will face Democrat A. J. Cooper Jr. in the Oct. 16 general election. However, the chances of a Democrat being elected in the Republican Red Baldwin County is about like the proverbial snowball's chances. It is unusual that Gov. Riley would take sides in a Republican contest. However, he and McKinney are tight. The governor first appointed McKinney to the state school board in 2003 and McKinney was elected to the post in 2004. Still, to pick one good Republican over another was a big gamble, a gamble that Riley lost.
Pittman, a tractor dealer in Daphne, has held appointed political positions but has never been elected. He was likely seen as a fresh face with no political ties- even to Gov. Riley.
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