By By Kerry Whipple Bean – publisher
Barack Obama did not win Alabama in his historic election victory Tuesday, but Alabama voters made history of their own.
Secretary of State Beth Chapman said 2,082,350 people voted in the presidential election - 73 percent of the record 3,010,638 registered voters
In Escambia County, more than 14,000 people voted.
Escambia County's results are not quite final. Election officials will meet Wednesday to count the provisional ballots, which could alter the outcome of the District 2 school board seat. Incumbent Democrat Michael Goolsby leads Republican Lawton Shipp by just 12 votes. Shipp did not concede the race Tuesday night.
In statewide races, Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh on Friday did concede her race for Public Service Commission president to former Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley.
Gov. Bob Riley said Andress' decision was the right one because it would save taxpayer money on a recount.
In another close race, Greg Shaw won an Alabama Supreme Court seat, but Democrat Deborah Bell Paseur is weighing a request for a recount.
Chapman's office said earlier this week that election officials will not decide until Nov. 25 whether a recount is needed in that race.
Also statewide, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions easily won re-election; incumbent William C. “Bill” Thompson won re-election to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals; Beth Kellum and Mary Windom won seats on the court of criminal appeals; and voters passed Amendment One, designed to allow the state to borrow more money for education from the state's oil and gas trust fund. The money must be paid back within six years.