INSIDE THE STATEHOUSE: Gov. Kay Ivey should coast to re-election The Tuscaloosa News For over a year, I have been touting that the 2022 election year in the Heart of Dixie was going to be the busiest and most monumental in history. Folks, it looks like it is not going to be as eventful as anticipated. Yes, everything is on the ballot, but the power of incumbency is thwarting the drama. It appears the U.S. Senate race is going to be the marquee event. Most states have their big election years in the same year as the presidential contest. Not so in Alabama. Our carte blanche election year is in-between presidential elections, in what is referred to nationally as off years.