2010 Alabama gubernatorial election
The 2010 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Governor Bob Riley was term-limited and unable to seek re-election. The party primaries were held on June 1, 2010, with a Republican runoff on July 13. In the general election, Robert J. Bentley defeated Democrat Ron Sparks. This was the first election in which Republicans won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state. This was also the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican carried Colbert County, Franklin County, and Lawrence County in a gubernatorial race.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Robert J. Bentley, state representative
- Bradley Byrne, former state two-year college chancellor, former state senator and former member of the Alabama State Board of Education
- Tim James, businessman, son of former Governor Fob James and candidate for governor in 2002
- Bill Johnson, former director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and former Birmingham City Councilman
- Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and candidate for governor in 2006
- James Potts, perennial candidate
- Charles Taylor, perennial candidate