 Todd is white, and the outgoing legislator, like the majority of the district, is black.Many of the state's African-American political leaders were apparently eager to keep the seat in black hands.A sub-committee of the Alabama Democratic Party (ADP) met to decide the contest and voted 5–0 to disqualify both Todd and her opponent, on the basis of what the ADP Chairman Joe Turnham called an "archaic party by-law".