Deep-Red Alabama Flips To Democrat Doug Jones In Senate Election
Dec. 13--With the entire nation watching, Alabama voters elected Democrat Doug Jones by a narrow margin to the U.S. Senate after a scandal-plagued campaign that included allegations of sexual misconduct sunk Republican Roy Moore, who refused to concede and called for a recount.
The final unofficial tally showed Jones with 49.9 percent to Moore's 48.4 percent.
"When the vote is this close, it's not over," a defiant Moore said, adding his campaign was talking to election officials. "We have to go by the rules of the recount provision ... and we know God is always in control."
"Part of the problem with this campaign is we've been painted in an unfavorable and unfaithful light," Moore said. "We've been put in a hole, if you will."
Despite running in a GOP stronghold, Jones, 63, was able to win after a dramatic campaign marred by accusations that Republican hard-liner Moore, 70, engaged in sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s.
"I have always believed that the people of Alabama have more in common than divides us," Jones told supporters at his campaign night rally. "We have shown the country the way that we can be."
Jones said he was "overwhelmed" by his win
"At the end of the day, this entire race has been about dignity and respect," Jones said.
The race was a once-in-a-lifetime event, according to a longstanding GOP pundit in Alabama who said the outcome was an anomaly in a normally hard-red state.
"This GOP is alive and well. It takes these very odd circumstances to make Democrats competitive in this state," said Marty Connors, Alabama's former Republican chairman. "This was always a question as to whether Republican suburban voters would succumb to all of the ridicule and confusion in this campaign."
With the win, Jones will take over the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions through 2020.
Nationally, the Alabama election inflamed tensions between Trump and Congressional Republicans who attempted to distance themselves from Moore when sexual misconduct allegations arose.
Trump fully backed Moore in the final days of his campaign and quietly pulled for him in the weeks leading up to the election. Meanwhile, Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for Moore to abandon the campaign and vowed to start an ethics investigation if he won.
Moore was removed from his position as state Supreme Court chief justice the first time after he refused to remove a boulder-sized Ten Commandments monument at the state court building. The second time, he was permanently suspended for urging state probate judges to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
One seat alone will not change the balance of power in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 52-48 majority, but yesterday's loss may make it harder for Trump to push legislation through a divided Congress. Moore's loss also gives Democrats a clearer path to a Senate majority in 2018.
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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