While Election Day next week will be dominated by the race at the top of the ticket—Kamala Harris or Donald Trump—voters will also have the opportunity to vote in many down-ballot races for judges, school board members, and other local officials.

But in coastal Alabama, there are very few local races with more than one candidate. In both Baldwin and Mobile counties, every judicial candidate is running unopposed, and many are incumbents.

There are two seats up for election on both the Baldwin County and Mobile County boards of education. All four candidates in those races are running unopposed, and all are Republicans.

All three members of the Mobile County Commission—Connie Hudson, Merceria Ludgood, and Randall Dueitt—are running for reelection unopposed. Hudson, a Republican, defeated primary challenger Doug Harwell in March. Dueitt, a Republican, and Ludgood, a Democrat, were unopposed in their respective primaries.

Here is a roundup of local races in coastal Alabama that will be on the ballot Nov. 5. Readers can also find sample ballots for Mobile and Baldwin counties below.

U.S. House

Voters in Mobile and Baldwin counties will not find any local incumbents on the ballot in next week’s races for U.S. House of Representatives.

In District 1, which covers all of Baldwin County and parts of Mobile County, voters will choose between Republican Barry Moore of Enterprise and Democrat Tom Holmes of Mobile.

Moore, who currently represents District 2, defeated incumbent Jerry Carl in the District 1 Republican Primary after he was drawn out of his district in court-ordered redistricting. Holmes, 78, is a former state employee and an advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Mobile.

House District 2 has become a nationally watched race, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that the district needed to be redrawn to give Black voters in the state the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choosing. The seat, which is predicted to narrowly favor Democrats, could decide the balance of the U.S. House.

Democrat Shomari Figures of Mobile will face Republican Caroleene Dobson of Montgomery in the race. Both are lawyers and are seeking elected office for the first time.

State Board of Education, District 5

Only one of the four statewide school board races on the ballot in Alabama this year is contested: District 5, which covers Mobile and extends through Montgomery and much of the Black Belt. Incumbent Tonya Chestnut, a Democrat who currently serves as vice president of the board, will face David W. Perry, a Republican.

Chestnut is a native of Selma and a retired teacher and administrator. She told the Alabama Reflector that her priorities are literacy, teacher retention, and school safety.

Perry is a pastor and community activist, according to the Reflector. He argues that there should be clinical psychologists in schools in order to address school safety. He also argues that the core curriculum in place is hampering teacher’s ability to teach, and students should be tested to see what field of study—academic or vocational—would best suit them.

Only voters in Mobile and north Mobile County will see the District 5 election on their ballots. Voters in the south part of the county and Baldwin County are in District 1, represented by Republican Jackie Zeigler, whose term on the board began in 2017. Zeigler ran unopposed in the Republican primary and is unopposed in the general election.

New judges

Johana Bucci, a Republican, is the presumed winner of Mobile County District Court Judge Place No. 6. Bucci, a prosecutor in the Mobile County District Attorney’s office, defeated Richard Foreman and Eucellis Sullivan without the need for a runoff in the primary. No Democrats entered the race.

Bucci’s seat was created in 2023 by the state legislature, after Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB39 into effect. The bill added judgeships in courts across the state that were struggling with large numbers of cases.

The bill also added another circuit court judge and district court judge in Baldwin County. Karol J. Kemp, a Republican, is running unopposed for the new circuit judgeship; Michael J. Hoyt is running for the new district court seat in that county. Hoyt is a Republican.

An additional circuit judge seat will be added in Baldwin County following the 2026 election, under the terms of the bill.

Mobile County Circuit Clerk

In Mobile County, the circuit clerk race is a rare competitive matchup. Republican Ashleigh Long faces Democrat Marsha Striveson Guy. Both have experience in Mobile County’s criminal justice system: according to Guy’s website, she has worked in the circuit clerk’s office for more than 25 years. She currently works in the circuit civil division.

Long has worked in the Mobile County District Attorney’s office for the large part of her career, including as supervisor of financial departments, according to her website.

In March, Long defeated incumbent Sharla Knox in the Republican primary, 61.29% to 38.71%. Guy ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Long’s primary campaign goal is to implement an app called “JurySnap” that she says would streamline the jury selection process. Drawing off her experience implementing an online payment system in the DA’s office, Long says the app—where potential jurors fill out paperwork online—will save residents’ and employers’ time.

But other Mobile County officials said the app is not feasible. Knox, Long’s former opponent, and Mobile County Presiding Circuit Court Judge Wesley Pipes both said that the program could not be implemented. Because Mobile County is part of the state’s unified justice system, the app could not be implemented unless it is implemented statewide, Pipes told news outlet Lagniappe in February.

Special County Elections

Pay-As-You-Go in Mobile

For the 20th time, Mobile County’s Pay-As-You-Go program will be up for renewal on the ballot. The program allocates funds to road and bridge projects in the county without any new taxes or new debt because the funds are collected prior to the two-year transportation improvement program beginning, according to a news release from Mobile County.

In this year’s Pay-As-You-Go referendum, voters will decide whether to allocate $82 million in local funds to 36 projects. Around $22 million of state and federal matching funds is also incorporated into this year’s PAYGO plans.

Voters have approved PAYGO plans each time it has been on the ballot. This year’s Pay-As-You-Go includes building a new road and bridge to the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, where commercial passenger air service will begin once a new airport terminal is built; and constructing a new roundabout at Fowl River Road and State Route 193.

Landmark Districts in Baldwin County

There are not one but three landmark district designations that Baldwin County voters will consider next week. Voters will consider whether to create a landmark district in Bon Secour south of Magnolia Springs, White House Fork near Bay Minette, and Stapleton north of Spanish Fort.

If voters assent to the creation of any or all of those landmark districts, then the state’s constitution will be amended to reflect that. Property in a landmark district cannot be annexed into a municipality via legislation, though it could still be annexed through a referendum or a petition.

In 2020, voters in Baldwin County created two “landmark districts:” one near Loxley called “Rosinton,” and one south of Fairhope called “Barnwell.”

Proponents of the landmark districts argue that it gives residents in those communities the ability to preserve their way of life. Baldwin County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state and is rapidly transforming from rural to suburban.

“A landmark district gives the communities a legal identity, a collective voice and a foundation for heritage preservation,” an administrator posted on the “Community of Stockton, AL,” Facebook page asking voters to vote “yes” on all three landmark districts.

Stockton was the first area in the state designated as a landmark district more than a decade ago in a statewide vote.

But Baldwin County city officials have criticized the landmark districts, arguing that the districts hinder growth management, particularly at the edges of cities. In 2020, 11 Baldwin County mayors signed a resolution opposing the landmark districts, according to a story from WBRC in Birmingham.

Constables

Mobile County is one of 21 counties in the state that still elects constables. (Baldwin County did away with constables in the 1990s.) There are 80 precincts in Mobile County that will hold a constable race, but in only 25 of those precincts is there a candidate, and in only two precincts is there a contested race. The position has become more obscure, and some law enforcement officials argue it’s unneeded, particularly in urban areas.