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Rep. Artur Davis has lost his bid to become the first African American elected governor in Alabama, the Associated Press has reported.
State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks appears to have easily beat Davis, a Harvard-trained lawyer and friend of President Obama, in the Democratic primary.
Davis had angered civil rights groups such as the Alabama New South Coalition and the Alabama Democratic Conference by bypassing their endorsement process. Those groups backed Sparks, who is white. Davis had said he had wanted to take his case directly to black voters, who traditionally make up about half of Democratic primary voters in Alabama.
Sparks will face the winner of a hotly contested Republican primary, in which the AP reports a tight race among physician Robert Bentley, Greenville developer Tim James and former community college chancellor Bradley Byrne. If no one gets 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will meet in a July 13 runoff.
Davis was first elected to Congress in 2002, in a district that includes Birmingham. He was an early supporter of Obama's presidential campaign.
Sparks has criticized some of Davis' votes, including his vote against Obama's health care plan. Davis was the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against the sweeping health care measure, aimed at extending coverage to millions of Americans who are uninsured.
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A Democratic congressman appeared on the way Tuesday night to losing his bid to become Alabama's first African-American governor, as the state, as well as Mississippi and New Mexico, held primary elections.
With 58% of precincts reporting, two-term state Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks led Artur Davis, a 42-year-old former prosecutor from Birmingham, winning 65% of the vote.
Mr. Sparks had trailed in the polls throughout the contest, but began to close the gap over the past month through aggressive campaigning, including negative attacks on Mr. Davis, paid for by a late surge of donations.
Throughout the Democratic contest, Mr. Davis downplayed race and emphasized his independence from party orthodoxy. He caused controversy among black leaders, and within his heavily black congressional district, by voting against President Barack Obama's new health-care law—the only black Democrat in Congress to do so—and was derided by some black leaders as a racial turncoat.
He also refused to sit for the endorsement screenings of the state's influential black political groups, drawing criticism that he is an opportunist in search of white votes.
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