Republican Mac Buttram defeated Kenneth Kilgo for the House District 12 race in Tuesday’s election. He will face incumbent James Fields (D) in the November election.

“I’m pleased,” Buttram said. “I am looking forward to the next step in this. I want to make sure we deal with issues.”

Buttram will face longtime friend Fields.

“I plan on remaining friends throughout it,” Buttram said.

He and Kilgo vowed to keep a clean race and will continue that into the November election.

“We will bring up issues,” he said. “Because he does have a voting record and that’s what we will deal with. James (Fields) and I are different in what we think District 12 and the state need.”

Buttram hopes the Republican party will take the Alabama State House in November.

“I think the whole party will be united in taking this seat,” he said.

Buttram said his main issue will be education.

“My passion is really education and getting adequate funding for Cullman county schools and the state,” Buttram said. “County schools are in crisis. It will be one of my main goals to restore what they have lost.”

Reducing unemployment and restoring ethics are other issues Buttram hopes to address if elected to office in November.

One issue at the Cullman County Board of Education precinct will not affect the outcome of the vote.

A poll worker error caused a ballot problem early in the day.

According to Cullman County Probate Judge Leah Patterson-Lust, voter 407 pointed out to poll workers they wanted to vote in the House District 12 race. They were certain they lived in that district.

It was at that point poll workers realized ballots for the Republican District 12 race between Buttram and Kilgo had not been put out.

“It was honest, human error mistake,” Patterson-Lust said.

Just this year, the two polling places at the Cullman County Board of Education were combined into one. Before this election, one district voted upstairs and one district voted downstairs. Because of this change, it may have caused some confusion, Patterson-Lust said.

“The wrong ballots were issued for the first 407 voters in the republican race,” Patterson-Lust said. “It has always been our way to have honest and fair elections in Cullman County.”

Fields has been in office since his win in January 2008, when he beat Republican Wayne Willingham.

Totals were 3,572 votes for Buttram and 3,116 for Kilgo.

Attempts to reach Kilgo by phone after the results were unsuccessful.

 ‰ Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.