By Zach Hester • zach@southerntorch.com

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. — Fort Payne attorney Andrew Hairston stamped out the competition after a hard race for Circuit Judge - 9th Judicial Circuit (Place 2) between himself, attorney Jeff McCurdy, and Deputy District Attorney Scott Lloyd.

Hairston currently serves as a Municipal Judge in both Fort Payne and Geraldine, a prosecutor in Sylvania, and the Public Defender in Rainsville. He is also a former Fort Payne City Councilmember, serving until he moved to attend law school. He was elected in 2004 at age 19.

At the outset of his campaign, Hairston said, “In my legal career, I’ve been a judge, prosecutor, and public defender. I believe serving in those positions, as well as the experience garnered from my law practice, allows me the unique opportunity to be the most qualified candidate for this position.”

Hairston is married to his wife Jessi and they have a brand new baby (who was arguably the star of this campaign season) named AJ.

“We live in a wonderful country, a wonderful county with wonderful people,” said Hairston. “You see the news and think bad stuff all the time… but getting out on the campaign trail, people invited us into [their] home and made us eat supper with them while we were campaigning.”

“My race became our race, my family became our family,” he continued. “It’s just a testament to DeKalb and Cherokee Counties. To continue, that starts with every single one of us.”

The final results were (according to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office):

Andrew Hairston - 8,496 Votes

Scott Lloyd - 5,905 Votes

Jeff McCurdy - 2,201 Votes

Hairston will have no opponent in the November general election, so he will officially take office in January 2019.