and Thomas Spencer --- The Birmingham News

State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks won the Democratic Party nomination for governor Tuesday, a victory some power brokers in his party once thought so unlikely they tried to find another candidate to take his place.

Even Sparks seemed to have doubted his chances of winning, having at one point mulled dropping out of the race and running for Congress. Sparks now credits those second thoughts to his campaign manager at the time.

But Sparks didn't drop out, and on Tuesday he was rewarded with one of the more remarkable upsets in Alabama primary history. In unofficial results, Sparks beat U.S. Rep. Artur Davis of Birmingham.

In unofficial results released early Wednesday morning, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Sparks had 199,190 votes (62 percent) and Davis had 119,908 (38 percent).

While votes were still being counted and results were not complete, Davis didn't wait for the final tally. He conceded the race to Sparks shortly before 10 p.m. in front of somber supporters in downtown Birmingham.

"This is not exactly the speech I'd planned to give tonight," Davis said.

He congratulated Sparks and noted that both men had been reared by single mothers with the help of a grandmother in challenging circumstances and had risen to the level of running for governor.

"It says something about the American Dream," Davis said.

Davis urged supporters to rally around the Democratic nominee and give him their support. He said he still believed in the basic themes of his campaign: the need for constitutional reform and economic improvement.

"A better champion will come along," he said.

Sparks' victory denied Davis' bid to make history by becoming the first black in Alabama to win his party's nomination for governor.

Sparks, 57, won the nomination in large part by campaigning on a single issue: his support for legalizing, regulating and taxing Las Vegas-style gambling in Alabama. Sparks stumped the state, telling would-be voters that taxing gambling proceeds would go a long way toward helping pay for a variety of needs -- from improving schools, better funding medical care for the needy and paying for college scholarships for deserving students.

At his victory party Tuesday night in Montgomery, Sparks initially told supporters he was cautiously optimistic about winning. Some 45 minutes later Davis conceded.

While hard numbers were not yet available late Tuesday, long time observers in Davis' camp said Sparks' victory appears to have been achieved, at least in part, because of low voter turnout among blacks who, unlike two years ago when they showed up in big numbers to vote for Barack Obama, showed no such enthusiasm for Davis on Tuesday.

(Editor's note: Updated at 2:56 a.m. with latest vote totals.)