Katherine Robertson, deputy attorney general and Republican runoff candidate for Attorney General, speaking at the Shelby County Republican Party runoff candidate forum May 26, 2026, in Pelham, Alabama, at the Pelham Civic Complex. Robertson won the Republican nomination for attorney general on Tuesday night. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
Deputy Attorney General Katherine Robertson Tuesday won the Republican nomination for Alabama Attorney General, defeating Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell after an expensive and often heated race.
“Here I stand tonight, a girl from Dallas County, Alabama, whose family barely made ends meet, growing cotton and running the local post office, with the chance to become Alabama’s first lay Attorney General,” Robertson said in her victory address shortly after AP called the race. “We are ending this primary and runoff the same way we started it 371 days ago when we I announced my candidacy, resolving to stand tall for conservative principles, fighting federal overreach, protecting out state sovereignty and serving as a strong and stead voice for law enforcement and crime victims in every city, town and crossroads in the state of Alabama.”
As of 8:49 p.m. Tuesday, Robertson had 85,357 votes (57%). Mitchell had 64,188 votes, about 43%.
Roberts will face Democratic nominee Jeffrey McLaughlin, an attorney based in Guntersville and former law partner of current Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, in the fall election.
The battle between Mitchell and Robertson has been bitterly contested. During the primaries, Mitchell made attacks on Muslim Alabamians while Robertson ran ads attacking transgender youth. But in the runoff, the talk focused on political contributions they received.
In Republican primary for Alabama attorney general, national issues trump state ones
Mitchell alleged in a debate that Robertson received dark money in which the names of the donors could not be verified, according to AL.com. Robertson defended herself and said that she received $2.9 million in campaign contributions from the Republican Attorneys General Association and from Leonard Leo, a member of the conservative group the Federalist Society.
The contest proved expensive. According to campaign finance reports, Robertson spent $4.8 million through June 12. Mitchell spent $4.3 million.
Neither campaign spoke a great deal about Alabama-specific issues. The two campaigns did feud over an issue regarding Cody Smith, a former Montgomery police officer who was convicted of manslaughter after he shot and killed Gregory Gunn in 2016 as he was walking home from a friend’s house. Marshall intervened in the case in 2023, engineering a plea deal that effectively freed Smith from a 14-year prison sentence.
Smith appeared in a campaign advertisement supporting Mitchell that alleged the Alabama Attorney General’s Office failed to support him after he was charged in the shooting.
Marshall called the attack reprehensible” and said that the AG’s Office recommended him for a state job and assisted in his pursuit of a pardon.
“No matter what Officer Smith chooses to say now, any one of us would help him again in a heartbeat,” the statement said.
Robertson said she will return to work the following day as she prepares for the general election.
“In choosing me, you will never have to worry whether your Attorney General is willing to do whatever it takes to fight for our state and the value we hold dear,” Robertson said.
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Author: Ralph Chapoco