Roy Moore loses to Doug Jones in Alabama Senate Election
Doug
Jones, the man who made his name prosecuting two former Ku Klux Klan members who
bombed a black church, has won a stunning victory in the Senate race in
Alabama becoming the first Democrat to win such a seat in the state for 25
years.
In doing so, the 63-year
prosecutor, who just weeks ago was trailing Republican Roy Moore by double
digits in the polls, also delivered a humiliating blow to Donald Trump, who had
mocked Jones and endorsed his opponent. It also reduces the Republican majority
in the Senate to 51-49, complicating Mr Trump's efforts to push forward his
legislative agenda.
Mr Jones’s fortunes increased
sharply after Mr Moore’s campaign was rocked by allegations that he abused
teenage girls and women when he was in his thirties and working as a local
prosecutor.
Mr Moore denied the allegations and dismissed them as an attempt
to undermine his campaign, but they appeared sufficient to either lead some
Republicans to vote for Mr Jones or else to enable the Democrat to persuade a
sufficient number of his potential supporters to actually go out and cast their
ballots for him. However, Mr Moore's campaign made clear in the wake of the
result that
they were not conceding yet.
It didn't stop Mr Jones and his supporters celebrating the
result. He told the victory - indeed the "entire race" - had been
"about dignity and respect".
Mr Jones said he now wanted to find “common ground” with other
politicians in Washington.
Appearing visibly emotional on stage at a campaign victory rally
in the city of Birmingham, he said: “I have always believed that the people of
Alabama have more in common than divides us.
“We have shown not just around the state of Alabama, but we have
shown the country the way - that we can be unified.”
Celebrating the victory on the same day he marked his 25th
wedding anniversary, Mr Jones said he felt overwhelmed by the result.
“Take this election from the great state of Alabama. Take this
opportunity,” he said. “On a very personal level, I want to thank each of you
for fulfilling a lifelong dream to serve in the US Senate.”
While raucous celebrations went on long into the night in
Birmingham, at Mr Moore's headquarters in Montgomery there was silence after
the result became clear.
One of the former judge’s longtime supporters, Rich Hobson, took
to the stage to say the Republican was not conceding the race.
“Some people are calling this. We’re not calling it yet,” he
said. “In the meantime, I'd ask you to pray."
Mr Moore also came out on stage and said that he would not be
conceding, telling campaign supporters “it's not over.”
“It's going to take some time,” the candidate said during a
brief appearance before supporters.
Campaign chairman Bill Armistead said that because the vote is
close and approaching the state's recount requirement, “we do not have a final
decision on the outcome.”
Alabama state law calls for a recount if the margin of victory
is less than 0.5 per cent. With all precincts reporting, Mr Jones leads by 1.5
percentage points three times the threshold.
If the secretary of state determines there were more write-in
votes than the difference between Mr Jones and Mr Moore, the state's counties
would be required to tally those votes. It's not clear how that would help Mr
Moore, who ended the night trailing Mr Jones by more than 20,000 votes.
Once again, it means President Trump has thrown his weight
behind a candidate in Alabama and lost. On Tuesday
morning, hours after ballots opened, Mr Trump had repeated his support for Mr
Moore on Twitter, where he has 45 million followers.
“The people of Alabama will do the right thing,” he said. “Doug
Jones is pro-abortion, weak on crime, military and illegal immigration, bad for
gun owners and veterans and against the wall. Jones is a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet.
Roy Moore will always vote with us.”
On Tuesday night, as news of Mr Jones' stunning upset sank in,
not just among the political class but across the country, Mr Trump offered
measured congratulations.
"Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory.
The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of
Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a
very short period of time. It never ends," he said.
If the result was a huge embarrassment for the President it was
a similar blow for his former strategist, Steve Bannon, who had become one of
Mr Moore’s most outspoken supporters and who was hoping to use what he believed
would be a victory in Alabama, to drive the momentum for similar so-called
insurgent campaigns in 2018.
Mr Bannon had been scornful of Mitch McConnell and other senior
Republicans in Washington, who he claimed were working against Mr Trump. It was
Mr Bannon those senior Republicans blamed for the result in one of the
country’s most conservative states.
Steven Law, CEO of the Senate Leadership Fund, a political
fundraising group closely linked to Mr McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader,
issues a damning statement: “This is a brutal reminder that candidate quality
matters regardless of where you are running.
“Not only did Steve Bannon cost us a critical Senate seat in one
of the most Republican states in the country, but he also dragged the President
of the United States into his fiasco.”
Hillary Clinton, who was beaten 62-34 in Alabama by Mr Trump in
the 2016 presidential election, was among the first to congratulate Mr Jones.
“Tonight, Alabama voters elected a senator who'll make them
proud,” she tweeted.
“And if Democrats can win in Alabama, we can and must compete
everywhere. Onward!”
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