Alabama Public Service Commission election, 2016

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Alabama Public Service Commission Election

Primary Date: March 1, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R)

Incumbent Prior to Election: Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) (President)

State Executive Elections Top Ballot None Down Ballot Public Service Commission

Key election dates

Filing deadline (major parties): November 6, 2015

Filing deadline (third parties and independents): March 1, 2016

Primary date: March 1, 2016

General election date: November 8, 2016

Recount request deadline: TBD

Inauguration: TBD

Alabama held an election for president of the Public Service Commission on November 8, 2016. Incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) won re-election.

HIGHLIGHTS

Incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) ran for a second term as president of the commission.

Cavanaugh defeated former Commissioner Terry Dunn (R) in the Republican primary election.

No Democratic candidates ran for this office, leaving Cavanaugh unopposed in the November general election.

Overview

The Alabama Public Service Commission is a three-member regulatory body that is responsible for regulating the state's utility companies. One seat on the commission was up for election in 2016, with the winner earning a four-year term as the commission's president. All three seats on the commission were held by Republicans at the time of the 2016 election. Additionally, Alabama has been under Republican trifecta control since 2011.

Former Commissioner Terry Dunn (R) unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) in the Republican primary election. The two had previously served on the commission together from 2011 until 2015. Dunn had criticized Cavanaugh for allegedly misleading consumers about a 2015 rate cut and purposely attempting to undermine his 2014 bid for re-election, which he lost.

Cavanaugh defeated Dunn in the March 1 Republican primary election. No Democrats ran for the seat, leaving Cavanaugh unopposed in the November general.

Candidates

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R)
President of the Public Service Commission since 2012

---

Click [show] to see a list of candidates who were defeated in the primary elections.
Terry Dunn (R)- Former member of the Alabama Public Service Commission

Results

General election

Incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh ran unopposed in the Alabama public service commission election.

Alabama Public Service Commission, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh Incumbent (unopposed)

Primary elections

Republican

Alabama Public Service Commission Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh	63%	439,406
Terry Dunn	37%	257,652
Total Votes		697,058
Election results via Alabama Secretary of State.

Context of the 2016 election

Incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R)

Cavanaugh was first elected to the commission in 2010. In 2012, she ran for president of the commission and unseated incumbent Lucy Baxley (D) by a margin of about 9 percent in the general election. She previously served as deputy chief of staff/senior advisor in the office of Alabama Governor Bob Riley and has served as the executive director/chair of the Alabama Republican Party.

Party control in Alabama

See also: Party control of Alabama state government

Alabama has been under Republican trifecta control since 2011. Republicans control the governorship and hold strong majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state's electoral votes have gone to the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1980, and Alabama has not been represented in the U.S. Senate by a Democrat since Howell Heflin left office in 1997.

All three seats on the Alabama Public Service Commission were held by Republicans at the time of the 2016 election. The last Democrat to serve on the commission was Lucy Baxler from 2008 until 2012, when she was unseated as president by Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R).

Alabama Party Control: 1992-2025
Six years of Democratic trifectas  •  Fifteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Race background

During the summer of 2015, Terry Dunn (R), a former member of the commission, announced his intention to challenge Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) for the position of president on the Alabama Public Service Commission. Dunn previously represented District 2 in the commission from 2011-2015 but lost his bid for re-election to challenger Chip Beeker (R) in the 2014 primary election.

While serving on the commission, Dunn disagreed with Cavanaugh on how to set rates for the Alabama Power Company. Dunn's campaign website criticized Cavanaugh for allegedly misleading consumers by announcing a significant rate cut for Alabama Power Company customers in December 2015. Dunn claimed that Alabama Power had been required to refund its customers $146 million in fuel costs and the commission misrepresented the refund as a rate cut in order to gain positive press. He also accused Cavanaugh of purposely damaging his 2014 re-election campaign by characterizing his questioning of the plan as opposition to rate cuts for consumers.

On October 26, 2015, Dunn announced that he was dropping out of the race because he believed that the Alabama Power Company would raise significant funds to oppose his candidacy. A spokesman for the Alabama Power Company later denied this charge, saying that the company does not participate in the commission elections. Dunn also cited dissatisfaction with his own party as a reason for withdrawing. In his news release, Dunn added "With the Republican Party now being the dominant party in the state, the Republican establishment needs to realize their obligations are not just to big businesses, but also the welfare of all individuals."

Dunn did not ultimately drop out of the race and was defeated by Cavanaugh in the March 1 primary.

Campaigns

Campaign finance

Terry Dunn Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
To date	September 9, 2016	$10,445.89	$139,744.75	$(48,583.74)	$101,606.90
			Running totals
			$139,744.75	$(48,583.74)

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
To date	September 9, 2016	$98,541.72	$142,744.00	$(235,240.14)	$6,045.58
			Running totals
			$142,744	$(235,240.14)

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Republicans

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R)
Terry Dunn (R)

About the commission

Quick facts about Public Service Commissioners
A multi-person board, ranging from two to seven members A total of 201 commissioners across all 50 states Publicly elected in 11 states Average salary: $115,563 (in 2010)

The Alabama Public Service Commission is a quasi-executive, elected agency of the Alabama state government, responsible for regulating the state's utility companies.

The commission's mission is to "ensure a regulatory balance between regulated companies and consumers in order to provide consumers with safe, adequate and reliable services at rates that are equitable and economical."

Incumbents

At the time of the 2016 election, the commissioners were president Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R), Jeremy Oden (R) and Chip Beeker (R). Cavanaugh was first elected in 2012, Oden was appointed in 2012 and Beeker won office in 2014.

Authority

The Alabama Public Service Commission was created by the Alabama Legislature in 1915 out of the existing Railroad Commission created in 1881. Between 1881-1915 the duties of the commission were expanded to include regulating utilities that provided electricity, gas, water and steam, leading the legislature to decide on the change. Since then it has been further expanded to include utility rates, motor transportation companies, air carriers, and natural gas transmission and distribution.

The Public Service Commission's authority and duties and are established by Title 37 of the Code of Alabama.

Section 37-1-1:

A commission to be known as the Public Service Commission, consisting of a president and two associates who shall be competent persons and qualified electors of this state, is established.

Qualifications

The only qualification established for members of the Public Service Commission is that the incumbent may not be an employee or have any "pecuniary interest," including stock ownership, in any utility.

Code of Alabama, Section 37-1-6:

No person owning any stock in any utility, or in the employment of any utility or pecuniarily interested in any utility, as defined in this title, shall be eligible to the office of public service commissioner.

Past elections

Presidents of the Public Service Commission are elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday every four years during presidential election years (2016, 2020, 2024, etc.). Two associate commissioners are elected every four years during congressional midterm election years (2018, 2022, 2026, etc.). Presidents assume office on the day after election.

2014

See also: Alabama down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Place 1: Republican incumbent Jeremy Oden won re-election without opposition on November 4, 2014.

Place 2: Republican Chip Beeker won election without opposition on November 4, 2014. Beeker unseated incumbent Terry Dunn in the 2014 Republican primary runoff election.

2012

See also: Alabama down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) defeated incumbent Lucy Baxley (D) for president of the Public Service Commission in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Alabama Public Service Commission President General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Twinkle Cavanaugh	54.2%	1,078,108
	Democratic	Lucy Baxley Incumbent	45.8%	909,323
Total Votes				1,987,431
Election results via Alabama Secretary of State

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Alabama Public Service Commissioner election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Alabama Public Service Commission election, 2016 - Google News

State profile

Demographic data for Alabama
	Alabama	U.S.
Total population:	4,853,875	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	50,645	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	68.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	26.4%	12.6%
Asian:	1.2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.5%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	1.7%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	84.3%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	23.5%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$43,623	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	23.3%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Alabama. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Alabama

Alabama voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Alabama coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Alabama
• United States congressional delegations from Alabama
• Public policy in Alabama
• Endorsers in Alabama
• Alabama fact checks
• More...

External links

Suggest a link

• Alabama Public Service Commission