Hopkins wins GOP nod in school race

Nowhere did incumbents do more poorly in Tuesday’s Republican Primary than in races affecting the Morgan County School District.
Incumbent first term Superintendent Bob Balch was defeated soundly by Bill Hopkins, principal of West Morgan High School. Plus, incumbents in both school district  number 4 and number 7 also went down in defeat.
Hopkins, a former football player at Falkville and a coach at West Morgan, garnered 5,176 votes (58.74 percent) to 3,635 (41.26 percent) for Balch, who was elected superintendent in 2006.
Hopkins, a Republican, faces no opposition in the November general election.
Paul Holmes led a three-candidate race for Morgan County Board of Education, District No. 4, by polling 3,101 (40.13 percent) of the votes. He faces a runoff against Christina Holmes McLemore, who polled 2,788, 36.08 percent of the votes. The incumbent, Dora Sanders Woodard, came in third with 1,737 (23.75 percent) votes.
The winner of the runoff, which will be held on July 13, will go up against Democratic challengers Stacy Lee George in November. George was unopposed in the primary.
In the race for Morgan County Board of Education, District No. 7, Jeff McLemore won outright against three other candidates in the Republican Primary. He polled 3,873 (51.10 percent) votes while his nearest challenger, Kerrick Whisenant, came in with 1,672 or 22.06 percent of the vote.
Incumbent Betty Posey-Hackett finished third with 1,488 votes, or 19.09 percent. Joe Praise finished last with 586 votes, or 7.73 percent.
McLemore will not have to face a Democratic opponent in November.