Love wins GOP runoff, faces Bright in November

By Lance Griffin

Published: July 15, 2008

State Rep. Jay Love, R-Montgomery, won Tuesday’s GOP 2nd Congressional District runoff, assuring that the district will have a congressman from outside the Wiregrass for the first time since 1992.

Unofficial results show Slocomb State Sen. Harri Anne Smith was able to make up less than half of the 13-point deficit she faced at the end of the June Republican primary, despite a heated campaign laced with negative ads from both candidates. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Love had 54 percent to 46 percent for Smith.

“I’m going to credit the win to a lot of hard work from our supporters. Myself and my supporters have been working specifically down in the Wiregrass for the last seven or eight months. In the end we gained a lot of support from the Wiregrass and I’m very proud of that,” Love said.

Love will face Democratic nominee Bobby Bright, the mayor of Montgomery, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Smith, believed to be the frontrunner earlier this year when the crowded Republican field was finalized, limped into the runoff, narrowly edging Dothan oral surgeon Dr. Craig Schmidtke to face Love.

Faced with having to overcome a 13-point deficit, Smith fired most of her campaign staff, bringing in a new campaign manager, new strategic team and new pollster. Soon, Smith launched a volley of negative ads, sparking a two-week battle of attack ads between the two. The acidic tone of the race prompted Congressman Terry Everett to ask both candidates to remove the ads, and the race took a more positive tone in the final week.

Smith said she was pleased with the Wiregrass turnout Tuesday and had no serious regrets about the campaign.

“You always wish you had done some things differently, maybe wish you had a little more time or shook one more hand. But I worked as hard as I could, fought a good fight, had great supporters and am very appreciative of every vote,” she said.

Smith said she attempted to call Love around 9:15 p.m. to concede and congratulate him, but was unsuccessful. She said she received a phone call from Bright, congratulating her on her campaign effort.

Love was the first candidate to announce his intentions to run, just after Everett said he would retire at the end of his term. He was first to the airwaves with a series of ads describing him as a Christian conservative and saying he was the candidate to bring about change in Washington.