'Conventional wisdom' bucked as Trump-backed candidate trails badly in Alabama GOP primary
President Donald Trump's preferred candidate in Alabama is bucking "conventional wisdom" by trailing badly in Republican primary.
The president endorsed former state GOP chair John Wahl for lieutenant governor in January, but a new poll released Monday shows him in third place behind Secretary of State Wes Allen and state Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Rick Pate, reported AL.com.
“The conventional wisdom says a presidential endorsement settles a primary,” said Michael Lowry, founder of The Alabama Poll. "The lieutenant governor’s race says otherwise."
Wahl is polling at 7 percent, behind frontrunner Allen at 18.7 percent and Pate at 8.8 percent, although a majority of Republican voters, 60.2 percent, remain undecided.
"The Trump-endorsed candidate is the only one in the field with a net negative favorability rating, and he trails by nearly 12 points," Lowry said. "There’s certainly room to recover but this isn’t what any campaign wants to see a month and half out.”
The Alabama Poll found Wahl, a butterfly farmer from north Alabama, had the highest net negative favorability rating among the candidates at minus-1.7 points, but he pointed out that Allen's favorability had fallen from 28 percent in an August poll and 23 percent in February to 18.7 percent in the latest survey.
“A four-point drop since the last poll by this firm makes it clear that voters are looking for an alternative,” Wahl said.
Lowry agreed Allen's drooping favorability “warrants watching," but he said his "overall structural position" was solid with an 11.7-point lead, and the secretary of state touted his record as a "proven conservative."
“I am the only candidate in this race that has sponsored and passed legislation to ban transgender procedures on children, the only one to help send absentee ballot harvesting crooks to jail and the only one to remove noncitizens from our voters rolls," Allen said.
The poll noted that Pate was the “only candidate in this race showing consistent upward movement," but he told AL.com he was surprised his numbers weren't higher.
“Everywhere I go, people are encouraging and supportive,” Pate said. “God opens doors and closes doors, we’ll do our best.”
The winner of the May 19 primary will face the winner of a Democratic primary contest between state Rep. Phillip Ensler of Montgomery and Darryl Perryman of Grove Hill in the November election.
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