Stutts sworn in as state senator amid recount
Stutts said that he felt comfortable with going ahead and being sworn in on Nov. 28 after hearing from state officials.
“Everything that I had heard was that the results were going to be verified and the final count would stand,” Stutts said.
Stutts said that after the recount on Dec. 1 he was notified that everything still checked out.
“I worked today and I’ve had people calling all day about the recount,” Stutts said. “Everything has been verified now and the results show that I won by 70 votes.”
Stutts said another reason he chose to be sworn in to office Nov. 28 was to be able to have his family with him.
“All my kids were home on Friday and Judge Hughston was available and told me to come down and we could do it on the steps of the courthouse,” Stutts said. “That was great to be able to have my adult children who live out of town and my child who was home from college be there with my wife and I.”
Judge Harold Hughston, Jr. of Alabama’s 31st Circuit Court officiated the swearing in of Stutts.
“We live five minutes from the courthouse and Judge Hughston’s office is in the courthouse so he suggested we come on down there and do it,” Stutts said. “He is a family friend of ours and we go to the same church and any judge in Alabama can do the ceremony.”
Stutts said he is glad the whole campaign process is over.
“My wife has worked so hard and there is no way I would have been able to do any of this without her,” Stutts said. “And everybody who has worked with me has been working hard since April. We are relieved that it is all over and now I’m ready to go to work.”
Stutts said that jobs and healthcare issues are the biggest tasks he plans to work on during his role as senator.
“As I said during my campaign, healthcare problems and jobs are issues in this district and they need to be worked on,” Stutts said. “And as I traveled around the district it was confirmed to me that those issues are still there.”
Stutts is meeting with Governor Bentley this week in the capital and will be back in Montgomery the following week for orientation.
“I’m going to meet with the governor down in Montgomery tomorrow (Dec. 2) and going back next week for orientation and to see what committees I will be assigned to,” Stutts said. “And then I will be getting to work.”
District 6 was recently realigned and now consists of parts of Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion and Winston counties.
Democratic incumbent Roger Bedford of Franklin County had served the district for 28 years. But the elections on Nov. 4 saw a national trend of Democrats being defeated by Republican candidates.
Stutts ran on a campaign that stressed change and a new perspective on solving problems in the district.
Stutts is a native of Cherokee, Ala. in Colbert County. He graduated Auburn University’s Veterinary Medicine program in 1979 and after working as a veterinarian he attended the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. Stutts completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Carraway Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala.
In 1992 Stutts opened Colbert OB/GYN where he has served over 18,000 patients, delivered over 10,000 babies, and performed over 7,000 gynecologic surgeries.
