Republican Carlos Crum drops out of House District 52 race

Democratic nominee Kelvin Datcher appears to be the winner in the House District 52 election after his Republican opponent – Carlos Crus – dropped out of the race.

Datcher recently won the Democratic primary runoff over Frank Woodson.

The Alabama GOP had an extremely short qualifying period in HD52 (ostensibly to avoid Crum having to face a primary opponent); so Crum won the Republican nomination without having to talk to voters as there was no need for a primary.

Datcher, on the other hand, had to wade through a heavily contested Democratic party primary field so is battle tested after a hard fought primary and runoff. He is a proven fundraiser and has a competent campaign team.

Crum's departure from the race means that the GOP does not have a candidate. Datcher could be declared the winner and the general election cancelled unless the Alabama Republican Party can find a replacement candidate. Crum's departure is a major setback for the Jefferson County Republican Party, who had hoped this would be an opportunity to grow their party's Black support. Demographic changes in Jefferson County over the last twenty years mean that Republicans cannot win there unless they can get significant support from minorities – support they have not had historically.

HD52 was held by Rep. John Rogers (R-Birmingham) for forty years until he resigned the office to plead guilty to a federal corruption charge. Rogers and his girlfriend have admitted to plotting with Rep. Fred "Coach" Plump (D-Fairfield) to embezzle $200,000 from an underprivileged children's baseball league.

Datcher is endorsed by Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.

Candidates interested in running for the vacancy should contact the Alabama Republican Party. If the Republican Party fails to find a replacement candidate, Datcher would likely be sworn in as early as August 1.

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