Autauga County judge race heads to June 16 runoff

Autauga County voters will decide on June 16 who gets the new Place 5 seat on the 19th Judicial Circuit bench after Carol Cook Carter and Bradley Earl Ekdahl finished first in the Republican primary but fell short of a majority. Carter took 10,556 votes, about 45%, while Ekdahl followed with 9,332, about 38%, pushing the race into a runoff and eliminating third candidate Ali Patterson.

The seat matters well beyond one county line. The new judgeship will serve Autauga, Elmore and Chilton counties, giving the winner authority in a circuit court that handles felony criminal prosecutions, civil cases above $20,000 and family court matters. That means the judge chosen next month could shape how quickly serious criminal and civil cases move through the system, how the docket is managed and how residents across the three-county circuit access the courts.

This is also a new post, not an open seat that has been sitting around for years. The Alabama Legislature created the additional circuit judgeship in HB145, designating it Circuit Judgeship Number 5 in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit and funding it in Fiscal Year 2026. With the job newly added, the runoff will determine who defines the early workload and judicial pace for a circuit that stretches from Prattville to the rest of Autauga County and into Elmore and Chilton counties.

The official sample ballot listed all three candidates for Circuit Court Judge, 19th Judicial Circuit, Place No. 5: Carter, Ekdahl and Patterson. Under Alabama law, a candidate must win more than 50% to avoid a second round. The Alabama Secretary of State’s 2026 election calendar sets the runoff for June 16, making the primary result only the first step in a race that is likely to decide the office in a heavily Republican contest.

Carter enters the runoff with a narrow but clear lead and more than 25 years of legal experience, according to local coverage. Ekdahl, an Autauga County attorney and former assistant district attorney for the 19th Circuit now in private practice, has the chance to close that gap over the next month. For Autauga County residents, the choice will help determine who presides over a new bench seat that could influence court access, case backlogs and justice across the circuit for years to come.