Democrat Marilyn Lands defeated Republican Teddy Powell in a special election Tuesday night for a state House seat in north Alabama that drew national attention.
Lands, a licensed professional counselor, flipped the seat from red to blue by besting Powell, a Madison city councilman, 62 percent to 38 percent with 100percent of the precincts in District 10 reporting, according to unofficial results posted on the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office website.
The race drew national interest against the backdrop of the controversial Alabama State Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are considered children under state law.
The seat became vacant when ex-Rep. David Cole resigned after pleading guilty to illegal voting.
It’s both better and worse than you’d expect: his house was redistricted out of district 10, so he intentionally rented a 5*5’ space in someone else’s house in the right district for $5 a month, then made a fake full lease to show as evidence he lived in district 10 . He voted in the election for 10, but then filed a tax exemption, using a different district as his home district.