Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh beat Matt Chancey for the GOP nomination to the race for Public Service Commission president. She leads Chancey 60 percent to 40 percent, or 62,262 votes to 41,490, with 98 percent of the vote counted. Cavanaugh will face off against Democratic nominee and former Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley in the general election.

Beth Kellum pulled out a 10-point victory over Lucie McLemore for the Republican Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals nomination. With 98 percent reporting, Kellum leads McLemore, 52,700 votes to 43,208. Kellum will square off against Democratic nominee and Jefferson County Circuit Judge Clyde Jones in November.

McLemore noted in defeat the fundraising advantage Kellum had over her—even though the advantage was mostly attributable to personal loans Kellum made to her campaign. Kellum reported raising $123,400; McLemore had not reached the $25,000 threshold where candidates have to file campaign finance reports, according to the Associated Press.

“Miss Kellum outspent me 8-to-1. This shows money does matter in political campaigns,“ McLemore said Tuesday night.

McLemore, 57, said she is not through with politics. “I’ll be back,“ she said.

Huntsville businessman Wayne Parker crushed Huntsville attorney Cheryl Guthrie in the race for the GOP nomination for the 5th Congressional District. With 97 percent of the vote in, Parker led with 79 percent—16,028 votes—to Guthrie’s 21 percent—or 4,330 votes. Parker will run against State Sen. Parker Griffith in the general election.

And in the nastiest race of the primary campaign, State Rep. Jay Love eked out a win over State Sen. Harri Anne Smith for the Republican nod for the 2nd Congressional District. With 99 percent of the vote in, Love leads Smith 53 percent to 47 percent, or 25,124 votes to 22,404.

If there was any doubt about how hot this race was, consider this: It drew more than 47,500 votes, more than twice the number cast in CD 5 and about half of those cast in the Court of Criminal Appeals race—which was statewide.

Love will meet Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright in the fall in what promises to be one of the closest contests in the country.

Residents of CD 2: Have I mentioned ... TiVo?

McCain-Huckabee?

McCain-Huckabee? Part 2

McCain-Huckabee? NOOOOO!

The criminal case against former Secretary of State Nancy Worley is still in limbo—a full year since a judge threw out five felony charges against her and Attorney General Troy King said he would ask the Alabama Court of Appeals to reinstate them.

The Associated Press says that Worley’s legal troubles stem from a campaign letter, bumper sticker and campaign contribution envelope she sent to employees in the secretary of state’s office during her unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2006:

The attorney general launched an investigation after one of her employees complained. Worley got indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on March 9, 2007 — about two months after leaving office.

The grand jury indicted her on five felony charges of using her official position to influence the vote or political action of five employees in her office. It also indicted her on five misdemeanor charges of soliciting a campaign contribution from five employees.

The felonies carry up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine; the misdemeanors carry up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine, according to the AP.

The delay is “unfortunately customary,“ according to a spokesman for the AG’s office.

“When a court takes something under advisement, we are both put in time out and we are waiting to re-ring the bell,” he said.

(Time out? Where did this guy learn PR—Romper Room U?)

Worley is the No. 2 ranking official of the Alabama Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic National Committee, according to the AP. She has maintained her innocence.

USA Today explored the story of Alex Latifi last week. Latifi is a Huntsville businessman whom U.S. government officials accused of violating U.S. export law by sending to China classified drawings of an Army Black Hawk helicopter part and falsifying related tests, USA Today said.

The government began investigating him in 2003 on a tip from a confidential informant (who, as it turned out, was one of Latifi’s employees—until he fired her after discovering that she had forged company checks totaling nearly $13,000). But four years—and a ruined business—later, a judge dismissed all charges against Latifi after a one-week trial that culminated with the court ordering the government to pay him $364,000 for reimbursement of his legal fees.

“Keeping sensitive U.S. military technology from falling into the wrong hands is a top priority for the Justice Department,“ Kenneth Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security, said at the time. “This indictment and other recent illegal export prosecutions should serve as a warning to companies seeking to enhance their profits at the expense of America’s national security.“

But rather than deterring renegade exporters, the Latifi case now appears as a cautionary tale of what critics call an overzealous prosecution. It is also a reminder that the innocent can pay an enormous price while the gears of justice grind. “The government’s case itself it seems to me was sloppily prepared. … Their prosecutorial zeal caused them to overlook some deficiencies in their case,“ says Clif Burns, an export law attorney at Powell Goldstein in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the case.

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin—yes, the Alice Martin of Scrushy and Siegelman fame—handled the case for the government.

The drama may not be over. Latifi’s attorneys have filed a formal complaint with the Justice Department’s office of professional responsibility (OPR) accusing Martin and her deputies, David Estes and Angela Debro, of “prosecutorial misconduct” for allegedly stating in conversations with the defense attorneys that their goal was to put Latifi out of business whether or not they won the case. Latifi is seeking access to the government’s case files, which his attorneys say will prove that prosecutors failed to disclose evidence suggesting his innocence.

“I paid with four or five years of my life. I lost my company,“ Latifi said. “This is like the Gestapo. This is not the United States.“

On Dec. 28, the Justice Department publicly confirmed that Latifi and his company, Axion, have been reinstated as government contractors “in good standing.“

But whether Latifi is able to save and rebuild what’s left of his 24-year-old business remains to be seen.

Read the USA Today story here.