The Republican battle to replace Bob Riley in the Governor’s Mansion took another turn Tuesday night following the uncertain results of the GOP’s primary election.

After counting the votes in a political contest that drew mocking attention from the national press, GOP voters still do not know who will be facing Bradley Byrne in the July 13 GOP runoff.

Byrne, a former two-year college chancellor, led the pack of Republican gubernatorial candidates, receiving 28 percent of the vote. Greenville businessman Tim James and Tuscaloosa physician Robert Bentley both brought in 25 percent of the Republican primary vote. With 99 percent of Alabama’s precincts reporting, Bentley held a narrow 140-vote lead over James. According to Alabama election laws, an official recount must take place if a statewide election is determined by less than 1 percent of the vote, and Bentley and James were separated by 0.1 percent. Most election night commentators said they believed the recount  would be completed by June 8. Byrne, who led Tuesday’s primary election, remained ahead in the polls throughout much of the campaign.

His success throughout the governor’s race made him a target for well-funded attacks. In one of the twists of the campaign, the Alabama Education Association and its teachers’ union was linked to a series of attack ads that criticized Byrne for supporting the teaching of evolution.

However, Byrne said it was partisan bias and not evolution that was responsible for the union’s attacks.

“The AEA is headed by two leaders of the Democratic Party,” he said. “They did not want me to win because I’m the strongest Republican against Ron Sparks.”

Byrne struck a defiant tone Tuesday after his strong performance with primary voters.

“I fought with them when I was chairman of the two-year college system to remove corruption from that system, and they know that if I get into office as governor then I will continue to fight to improve education and fight corruption.”

Byrne also remained consistent in his belief that evolution should continue to be taught in public educational institutions.

“Evolution is the most widely accepted scientific explanation for the origin of life,” he said. “That does not mean that people are not free to bring their own understanding of origins of life which may come from their faith or other scientific theories in to play. But certainly we should be teaching evolution as the main scientific theory behind the origin of life.”

Coming in first place and avoiding the recount will give Byrne an advantage in the runoff election, he said.

“It sends a signal to a lot of different people, who may have voted for another candidate that didn’t make it, that a lot of people support me or support the principles on which I stand,” he said. “I think it will help us attract more people to our position in the runoff.” Byrne also said he doesn’t care whether he faces Bentley or James in the Republican runoff.

“It really doesn’t matter to me. I know both of them. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. We’re sitting here working on our campaign for the runoff,” he said in a telephone interview. “It’s not going to change our message at all. It may change a tactic here and there, but it’s not going to have a major impact on our campaign.”

Bentley, who left his District 63 seat in the state legislature to run for governor, was the surprise of the night, overcoming a substantial fundraising disadvantage and name recognition concerns. The Tuscaloosa legislator credited his strong performance to positive campaigning and his opponents fighting one another.

Bentley ran a campaign focused on unemployment and promised that, if elected, he would serve without pay until Alabama reaches full employment.

James, the son of former Alabama Governor Fob James, also had a strong resurgence in recent months, despite poorer performance in earlier polls.

James gained national media attention for a television advertisement on the subject of driver’s license testing. In the ad, James says that if he is governor, driver’s tests will be given in English only.

The ads struck a nerve across Alabama, and drew contemptuous rebukes from national media outlets such as The New York Times. Still, the controversial ads energized a campaign that may still make the GOP runoff.