“People are fed up and tired of what Congress is doing,” Roby said recently as she cam­paigned across the district. “There’s really a cloud of uncer­tainty.”

Republican challenger Mar­tha Roby narrowly defeated in­cumbent U.S. Rep. Bobby Bright for the Alabama 2nd District seat in Con­gress. (byFaith Magazine reports that she is a member of Trinity Church, Montgomery.)

With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Roby led Bright with 51 percent of the vote in the fiercely competitive race that drew national attention.

Republicans, who captured control of the U.S. House, saw freshman Bright as vulnerable. The former mayor of Montgom­ery is in a seat that had long been held by Republicans and only nar­rowly defeated Republican Jay Love in 2008 to represent the dis­trict.

“You sent a message that you have enough of reckless spend­ing,” Roby told a cheering crowd. “I have heard you loud and clear.” She thanked Bright for his service in Congress.

Bright conceded the race shortly before midnight, saying to Roby that “party labels need to be thrown out the door.”

“This is not about party,” he said. It should not be about which party controls Congress, but should be about the people and America, he said.

Roby, a Montgomery City Council member, hoped to capi­talize on the anti-incumbent mood to unseat Bright. “People are fed up and tired of what Congress is doing,” Roby said recently as she cam­paigned across the district.