Too close to call: House District 47 primary separated by just five votes

UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect that Mike Shaw is a current member of the Hoover City Council.

With just five votes separating Christian Coleman and Jim Toomey in the House District 47 race, the winner will not be known until next Tuesday, May 31, when the provisional ballots are counted.

Coleman, a first-time candidate, leads Toomey by a count of 601 to 596. Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Toomey said he would wait until all of the provisional ballots were counted before possibly conceding the race.

Toomey previously ran for the seat in 2018 against the Republican candidate and winner, David Wheeler. Wheeler served as the district’s state representative until his death in March. Hoover City Council member Mike Shaw was chosen by the state’s Republican Party to replace Wheeler on the ballot in the November general election.

Barry Stephenson, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars, said his office just received provisional ballots from all county precincts Wednesday morning and would not know for several days how many provisional ballots were cast in the District 47 race.

The provisional ballots will be counted at noon next Tuesday, in keeping with Alabama law, at the Jefferson County Courthouse.