Bobby Bright forces runoff against Martha Roby for Congress seat

Melissa Brown | Montgomery Advertiser

Show Caption Hide Caption Martha Roby presents her record while campaigning U.S. Representative Martha Roby pauses to talk with the media about her legislative record while campaigning at a fish fry in Andalusia, Ala., on Wednesday May 30, 2018.

U.S. Rep Martha Roby, a four-time incumbent beleaguered by disloyalty accusations from within party lines, was unable to clinch the Republican nomination for U.S. House District 2 on Tuesday night.

Former Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright has forced Roby into a July runoff for the GOP nomination, edging out Rich Hobson and Alabama Rep. Barry Moore.

Though the specter of negative 2016 comments against then-candidate Donald Trump shadowed most of her primary campaign, the congresswoman landed on the offensive Tuesday night after the runoff was declared, calling out Bright's Democratic tenure in Congress.

"I'm running on my record: I'm a proven conservative Republican in this race," Roby said. "Bobby Bright supported Nancy Pelosi to be speaker."

Bright said Tuesday he was "delighted, honored and humbled" by the support he received in the primary but immediately pushed back on Roby's comments. Bright said he filed to run as a Republican due to disappearing conservative factions in the Democratic party,

"I will not let them taint me as a left wing liberal," Bright said. "People know Bobby Bright. They know I'm conservative."

The Republican primary was deemed one to watch by national pundits. Only one other incumbent in the nation has lost their primary election in the 2018 midterm election cycle.

Roby has battled dissent from within GOP ranks since 2016, after she withdrew her endorsement of Trump, after a 2005 audio recording surfaced of him bragging about grabbing women’s genitalia without their consent.

More: As Martha Roby highlights record, opponents highlight her Trump comments

Her three opponents clambered to position themselves to the right of Roby, holding up her 2016 election cycle comments up as proof of disloyalty to the president and Republican Party at large.

Bright ran ads accusing Roby of turning “her back on President Trump when he needed her the most.”

"If she wants to use all this Democratic, liberal jargon, check her record," Bright said.

But Roby has not been a voice of dissent in Washington, D.C. The congresswoman has only voted against the White House on two pieces of legislation, voting in line with the president some 97 percent of the time, according to legislation tracking by news organization FiveThirtyEight.

Though Roby has never retracted her October 2016 comments about Trump, she said Tuesday she wants the president to be successful.

“When the president is successful, Alabama is successful,” Roby said in Montgomery after casting her own ballot. “Over the course of the past year and a half, I’ve worked with the administration to make sure we’re getting conservative policies across the finish line to help the people I represent. And I’ll continue to do that.”

Bright served as Montgomery's mayor from 1999 to 2009. Before his party change, Bright was the only Democrat the 2nd District has elected in the last 50 years.

"Hopefully I can convince the people who didn’t vote for me to come on board," Bright said of the next six weeks. "I’m not running this campaign to go to Washington to be popular. I’m running this campaign to be a strong, mature, experienced voice. I intend to do that."

Montgomery business analyst Tabitha Isner handily won the Democratic primary against Audri Scott Williams with 60.2 percent of the vote to Williams' 39.8. In a social media statement, Isner thanked District 2 constituents for their votes.

"I am so grateful for your trust, confidence, and encouragement," Isner said. "I am thrilled to work for you. I look forward to the next five months of hard work, because I have you all around me. I couldn't be prouder to be on this road with you."

Brian Lyman contributed to this report.