Cavanaugh wins Republican PSC runoff

MONTGOMERY — Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh on Tuesday won the Republican primary runoff for Public Service Commission president, ensuring that the commission that watchdogs utilities will be made up of three women for the first time.
With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Cavanaugh had 60,595 votes, or 60 percent of the vote, while Matt Chancey had 40,148 votes, or 40 percent.

``I’m just very honored that the Alabamians that went out to vote decided they wanted my leadership for the Public Service Commission,‘’ Cavanaugh said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. ``Obviously, now I have to look ahead to the election in November and get out there and let people know how important the Public Service Commission is.‘’

Cavanaugh, 42, lives in Montgomery and is a former Republican party chair and former adviser to Gov. Bob Riley. Chancey, 32, a native of Enterprise who now lives in Chelsea, works in communications and marketing.

Cavanaugh will face former Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley in the Nov. 4 general election. Baxley was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The winner of the general election will join commissioners Jan Cook and Susan Parker, both Democrats, and replace longtime commission President Jim Sullivan, a Republican who decided not to seek re-election.

The PSC president presides over the commission, which regulates Alabama Power Co., Alabama Gas Corp. and other utilities that send monthly bills to residential and business customers.

Cavanaugh congratulated Chancey on a race well-run and said she was happy they had kept the race clean and didn’t revert to negative campaign tactics. She called Chancey a ``fine Republican’‘ with a bright future.

Chancey also said he was happy that the race had been positive and issue-oriented. He said he told Cavanaugh in a congratulatory call that he would ``be glad to help her any way I can for the November election.‘’

Cavanaugh nearly clinched the party nomination in June, garnering about 47 percent of the vote in the three-person primary — just shy of the simple majority needed to win outright.

She said she would use the post on the commission to ensure that Alabamians have access to ``reliable and affordable public utilities.‘’

Chancey’s background includes involvement in political issues on the state and national level, including working with the Home School Legal Defense Association, the Gun Owners of America and the Conservative Caucus. He has also worked in several campaigns, including helping run Tom Parker’s successful 2004 campaign for the Alabama Supreme Court, and he has been president of the conservative Alabama Republican Assembly.

Sullivan had backed Cavanaugh in the race. Retired commission employee Jack Hornady, the third candidate in the June primary, did not endorse either of his former rivals.