WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on the Alabama Senate election (all times local):
6:30 a.m.
President Donald Trump is defending his decision to initially back Sen. Luther Strange against Roy Moore in Alabama’s Senate election, saying in a predawn tweet that “Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him.”
U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore leaves the stage after speaking at the RSA activity center, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Moore did not concede defeat to his Democratic opponent Doug Jones. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
“I was right!” the president said in a pre-dawn Twitter post Wednesday, a day after Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated Moore, a former state Supreme Court chief justice who was buffeted by allegations of sexual misconduct.
Trump notes in his social media post that the reason he originally sided with Strange was that “I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election.”
The president had sent a tweet late Tuesday congratulating Jones, a former federal prosecutor, on his “hard fought victory.”
___
3:40 a.m.
In a stunning victory aided by scandal, Democrat Doug Jones won Alabama’s special Senate election, beating back history, an embattled Republican opponent and President Donald Trump, who urgently endorsed GOP rebel Roy Moore despite a litany of sexual misconduct allegations.
It was the first Democratic Senate victory in a quarter-century in Alabama, one of the reddest of red states, and proved anew that party loyalty is anything but certain in the age of Trump. Tuesday’s Republican loss was a major embarrassment for the president and a fresh wound for the nation’s already divided GOP.
“We have shown not just around the state of Alabama, but we have shown the country the way – that we can be unified,” Jones declared as supporters in a Birmingham ballroom cheered, danced and cried tears of joy. Still in shock, the Democrat struggled for words: “I think that I have been waiting all my life, and now I just don’t know what the hell to say.”
Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Doug Jones and his wife Louise wave to supporters before speaking during an election-night watch party Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. In a stunning victory aided by scandal, Democrat Doug Jones won Alabama’s special Senate election on Tuesday, beating back history, an embattled Republican opponent and President Donald Trump, who urgently endorsed GOP rebel Roy Moore despite a litany of sexual misconduct allegations. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Democrat Doug Jones speaks Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. In a stunning victory aided by scandal, Jones won Alabama’s special Senate election, beating back history, an embattled Republican opponent and President Donald Trump, who urgently endorsed GOP rebel Roy Moore despite a litany of sexual misconduct allegations. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Doug Jones waves to supporters before speaking during an election-night watch party Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. Jones won election to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, dealing a political blow to President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks as his wife Kayla Moore, right, listens at the RSA activity center, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Moore did not concede to his Democratic opponent Doug Jones.(AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore supporter weeps during an election-night watch party at the RSA activity center, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Moore refused to concede and raised the possibility of a recount during a brief appearance at a somber campaign party in Montgomery. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.