Uh, The Dude? Big Lebowski, Saban among local write-in votes

Published 5:45 am Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban, beloved Birmingham TV weatherman James Spann, Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson and comedian Steve Harvey were selected by some Cullman County voters to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate.

A week has passed since Democratic nominee Doug Jones defeated embattled Republican Roy Moore to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Alabama in a quarter-century. But with Moore refusing to concede until after election results are certified by the state, Cullman joined other counties across Alabama in combing through the nearly 23,000 write-in votes — though Secretary of State John Merrill says the outcome isn’t expected to change.

In Cullman County, there were 324 write-in votes cast, with outgoing Sen. Luther Strange capturing the most at 137, followed by Lee Busby, who openly campaigned as a write-in candidate, with 61, and Libertarian nominee Ron Bishop with 18.

No change is anticipated from last-minute ballots, including write-ins and overseas votes. A new state law requires counties to review write-in votes if those votes are higher than the winner’s margin of victory. That certainly wasn’t the case in Cullman where Moore, who was beset by allegations of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls decades ago weeks ahead of the election, handily won the county with 78.75 percent to Jones’ 19.71 percent.

On Tuesday, the Cullman County Probate Office, which is in charge of overseeing local elections, opened 11 provisional ballots which showed seven more votes for Moore and four for Jones. Provisional ballots are set aside in instances where a voter has cast a ballot at the wrong precinct or the ballot is otherwise irregular.

While it didn’t change the outcome of the election, the list of write-in votes is always a who’s who of celebrities, athletes and even local residents.

In keeping with past elections, Saban pulled in multiple write-in votes — 8 —while Auburn University star athletes Charles Barkley and Bo Jackson each netted a vote. Former University of Florida quarterback and Heisman Award winner Tim Tebow also received a write-in vote along with Jeffrey Lebowski, presumably from the cult film “The Big Lebowski,” although it’s not clear if the voter intended to support the “big” or “little” Lebowski.

Here’s a rundown of other local write-in votes:  

Paul Bussman, 1.

Jeff Sessions, 6.

Donald Trump, 1.

John Merrill, 1.

Bob Riley, 4.

Andy Heis, 1.

Robert Aderholt, 1.

Mo Brooks, 12.

Neal Morrison, 2.

Shelby, 1.

Justin Pace, 1.

Larry Allred, 1.

Leeland Whaley, 1.

James Fields, 6.

Sherrie Saunders, 2.

Mrs. Robert Bentley, 1.

Condoleezza Rice, 3.

Kay Ivey, 4.

Byron K. Smith, 1.

Bruce Whitlock, 1.

Corey Harbison, 2.

Houston Thrailkill, 1.

Matthew Crump, 1.

Barry Willingham ,1.

Ralph E. Newman, 1.

Mr. James Edward Green, 1.

Don Hanson, 2.

Randall Shedd 1.

Kenneth Dale Jones, 2.

Phil Robertson, 3.

Clay Scofield, 1.

Brock Johnson, 1.

Dennis E. Reid, 1.

Zack Nail, 1.

Jason Kelly, 1.

Kerry Franklin, 1.

Matt Vaughn, 1.

Steve Harvey, 1.

Billy Barnett, 1.

JoAnne Robertson, 1.

S. Tommy Morgan, 1.

Alex J. Chaney, 1.

Coggins, 1.

Cooper J. Howard, 1.

Arnold Caylor, 1.

Champ Crocker, 1.

Miscellaneous (fictional, blank, neither), 12.