Alabama went to the polls on Tuesday and its citizens let their voices be known. In the presidential race, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won Alabama by a large margin and also were the big winners nationwide.

Locally, many of the incumbents were big winners. District attorney Michael Jackson was decisively over Faya Toure and will serve his fourth term. Commissioners Larry Nickles and Curtis Williams were re-elected. District 1 commissioner Connel Towns Jr. was forced to a run-off with Valerie Reubin.

The run-off will take place in April.

In the race for fourth judicial circuit judge, Don McMillan defeated Selma attorney Jana Garner.

It was a big night for all of those who won elections. We want to be among the first to congratulate them on their victories, but those who came up short should be proud of their campaigns as well.

We always need people to run for political office and to bring more views and opinions out into the open.  A lot of candidates ran for office for the first time, which is a positive sign for our community.

It’s never easy to put yourself out there in the public eye, but so many bravely did that during this election.

For those that won, the work is only getting started. We look forward to seeing how you help lead Selma into the future.