Eastern Shore businessman Trip Pittman handily defeated A.J. Cooper Tuesday by an 86 percent margin in the special general election to replace Bradley Byrne who left his Senate District 32 seat to become chancellor of the state’s junior college system.

Pittman, a Republican, received 12,741 votes while Cooper, a Democrat received 1,947 votes.

In the GOP primary runoff election last month, Pittman received 9,066 votes, while state School Board member Randy McKinney garnered 7,111.

"Trip is humbled by the experience and gratified at the results obviously," said Ray Lapierre, Pittman’s campaign manager.

Lapierre said there are a lot of issues that are first and foremost in the minds of Baldwin County citizens — insurance and immigration reform and property tax appraisals among them — and Pittman has pledged to address these.

"It's a tribute to Baldwin County voters that so many turned out," Lapierre said.

He said he personally thought approximately 12,000 voters would turn out for the election but was surprised that more than that ended up voting. He said he expected his candidate to get 75 percent of the votes.

Cooper said when he began his campaign, a set of goals was in mind, including envigorating the Democratic Party in the county and emphasizing how important the two-party system is for Baldwin County.

"I am pleased Mr. Pittman and I were able to conduct a campaign which this county can be proud of," he said.

"We had the privilege of talking to voters all over Baldwin County. We were received warmly throughout the county."

While Cooper said he was naturally disappointed in the result of the election, he said he is looking forward to the 2008 elections.

While he doesn't know as yet whether he will seek public office again, he did say, "I will be in the leadership of an expanded Democratic Party. We will have candidates that will run for such offices as the probate judgeship, county commission, and revenue commissioner."

In that regard, Cooper said only a "few" county offices "look good" in the sense of being secure enough not to face a Democratic challenge next time around.

There are 87,179 registered voters in Senate District 32 which encompasses most of Baldwin County and meets a sliver of Senate District 22 on the Eastern Shore.

For a breakdown of election results, go to co.baldwin.al.us, click Probate and follow the links.