Republicans win in every appeals court race but one

Unfortunately, the one appeals court race the Republicans lost was the big one: Democrat Sue Bell Cobb narrowly defeated incumbent Drayton Nabers to become the next Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

From the AP:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Democrat Sue Bell Cobb defeated Republican Chief Justice Drayton Nabers Jr. on Tuesday in a rough-and-tumble race that was called the nation's most expensive judicial campaign of the year.

Republicans won nine other seats on three state appeals court, leaving Cobb in a familiar role as the only Democratic judge elected statewide — but this time at the head of the court system.

With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Cobb led Nabers 52 percent to 48 percent. A spokesman said Nabers phoned Cobb to concede defeat. ...

"I'm thrilled to be the first female chief justice in the history of the state," said Cobb.

And we're just thrilled to have you, Mrs. Cobb.

But...

Drayton Nabers has been an excellent Chief Justice during his short time on the Court, so his loss is disappointing. Still, it's important to note that the Supreme Court operates as a body; it is not "ruled" by the Chief Justice. Following today's election, that body will retain its current composition of eight Republicans and one Democrat.

As Chief Justice and the Court's lone Democrat, Mrs. Cobb has a challenging job ahead of her; if she approaches it with a judicious temperament and a proper understanding of her role as the Court's chief administrator, she should have no problem rising to that challenge.

One other note on the judicial races: In addition to their 8-1 majority on the Supreme Court, Republicans will now hold every seat on both the Court of Civil Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals. Not too shabby, especially when you consider that as recently as 1994, all nine seats on the Supreme Court were held by Democrats, and no Republicans served on either the civil or criminal appeals court.

Democrats have got big, big problems in Alabama; today's election results serve to underscore that point.