(Thumbnail Image: The Birmingham News/Al.com)

“Congressman Artur Davis lost his bid to become Alabama’s first African-American governor. Democrats overwhelmingly voted for Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks in yesterday's primary."(HLN)

Davis had led every poll in the wake of Tuesday’s Democratic primary, but was trounced by Sparks.  Now many in the media have turned his loss into a discussion about race and politics. Analysts, such as Birmingham Southern professor Natalie Davis, said the Congressman took black support for granted, citing the fact he was the only black member of Congress to vote against the health care reform law.

“Nationally, it’ll probably be pegged as ‘Alabamians reject an African-American,’ but I think the real story is that this was a campaign that was flawed.  The theory of the campaign was that Congressman Davis probably took for granted his base inside the Democratic Party and was really looking down the road at November.” (WBRC)

The Guardian’s Michael Tomasky writes that Democratic primary voters are often worried about voting for blacks in the South, because they worry they can’t win statewide. But when the black candidate is out of touch as Davis was, Tomasky says that spells certain doom.

“Almost no Democrat could win that state in today's political atmosphere, let alone an African American, and yet he cast some vote against his constituents' needs... I think it's more likely the case that maybe white voters just figured nominating the black guy was even more hopeless than usual.”

Cynthia Gould of Birmingham CBS affiliate WIAT said Sparks got a huge influx of money following his endorsement by two major black organizations in the state, after he had been trailing badly in the polls and, at one time, had considered quitting the race.

“You gotta hand it to Ron Sparks, he hung in there, kept fighting back, and in this last week or so, he really closed the gap in the polls and he got a huge infusion of campaign contributions.”

Newsweek’s Andrew Romano writes Davis also allowed Sparks to be more vocal about another major issue in the election: whether to create a lottery and legalize casino gaming in the state.

“Davis didn't lose in Alabama because he was a Washington favorite; he lost because he…allowed Sparks to own an issue (legalizing and taxing Vegas-style gambling) that played very well with the base.”

NBC News’ Chuck Todd writes that Davis’ defeat is another lesson that black voters will not automatically fall in line behind a black candidate. Sparks supports the health reform bill, which may hurt him in a general election, but helped him Tuesday night.

“Davis voted against health care, but a tough one to get around in a Democratic primary when half the electorate is black and so is the president of the United States. Davis' defeat is a good lesson for any African American or Hispanic politician who thinks they automatically will get support based on skin color or ethnicity.”

Either way, Sparks trails all three possible Republican nominees by over 10 points in recent polls.  There will be a runoff election for that race next month.

Get more multi-source political news from Newsy.com.

WRITER: Mike Bushnell

PRODUCER: Newsy Staff