On Tuesday night, Nov. 2, Shelby County’s Judge Patti Smith had a resounding victory over her opponent in the race for Place Two on the Alabama Supreme Court.

Though she ran a positive campaign and he did not, she never even said his name. Her demeanor and her campaign epitomized the integrity for which she is known.

When, in the final two weeks, her Democrat opponent ran unfavorable and unkind TV commercials about her, she took the high road; she stayed positive on her race, not focusing on his tactics.

Judge Smith refused to give into even fair, justifiable campaign practices in correcting and truthfully responding to her opponent.

She refused to let anyone else approach him on her behalf. She continued her steady, fair, calm, conservative, humble and common sense approach to the campaign ahead of her – all qualities and traits, I might add, that will make for an outstanding Supreme Court Justice.

As a result, Judge Patti Smith won by a 60 to 40 percent margin statewide over her opponent and garnered more votes in her home county than President George W. Bush.

She also received the highest vote total of any Supreme Court Justice candidate in Alabama history – topping the million vote mark.

They say you can’t run a clean campaign and win anymore. Try telling Judge Patti Smith that.

She has set an enormous example for us all – one that was fair and successful, despite her opponent’s dirty politics.

What a great representation of the type of person she is.

What a great representation of Shelby County and of a soon to be Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Thank you, Shelby County, for your tremendous support of Judge Patti Smith.

Beth Chapman serves as Alabama’s state auditor. She resides with her husband, James, and two sons, Taylor and Thatcher, in North Shelby County