A defiant Roy Moore doubled down on his decision not to concede the Alabama Senate election to Democratic victor Doug Jones by putting out a nearly five-minute message on YouTube Wednesday night saying, ‘And the battle rages on.’
‘Today we no longer recognize the universal truth that God is the author of our life and liberty, abortion, sodomy and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ Moore warned.
The candidate, whose campaign was upset by accusations that he preyed on teenage girls, quoted Bible verses from the book of Ephesians and a speech from President Lincoln, and stated that he was staying in the race because the ‘heart and soul of our country is at stake.’
Republican candidate for Senate Roy Moore materialized on YouTube Wednesday night, putting out a message to supporters saying he would stay in the race until all the mail-in ballots were counted
Roy Moore appeared briefly at his election night fete and told supporters that he wasn’t conceding
Roy Moore told supporters and reporters at his election night party that ‘when the vote is this close it is not over,’ instructing those gathered in the Montgomery, Alabama venue to, ‘go home and sleep on it’
Moore walks off stage with his wife Kayla (second right) after telling his supporters he would not concede defeat till all the votes were in and possibly demand a recount
Moore hadn’t been heard from since he left the stage of his Montgomery, Alabama election night party telling the crowd that ‘when the vote is this close it is not over,’ and advising them to ‘go home and sleep on it.’ He also said he would look to God.
After that Moore went dark.
Three emails to Moore’s spokeswoman went unreturned through Wednesday and a campaign official DailyMail.com reached by phone said he didn’t know Moore’s plans.
A source in Alabama’s secretary of state’s office told DailyMail.com that beyond an initial conversation staffers had with both teams, prompted by media interest, Moore’s campaign hadn’t been back in touch about a recount today.
Moore had floated last night that he would wait until the mail-in ballots, which include many military members, were counted to see if the closeness of the race would trigger an automatic, state-paid-for, recount.
He repeated that plan tonight.
‘In this race we have not received the final count to include military and provision ballots,’ he said. ‘This has been a very close race and we are waiting for certification by the secretary of state.’
In his new message, however, he didn’t speak of a recount.
He did, however, outline a number of things that bothered him, in a red meat message to his right-wing base.
We have stopped prayer in schools,’ he said. ‘We have murdered over 60 million of our unborn children.’
‘We’ve redefined marriage and destroyed the basis of family, which is the building block of our country. Our borders are not secure. Our economy is faltering under an enormous national debt. And we have a huge drug problem,’ he went on.
‘We’ve even gone to recognize the man to claim to be a woman and vise versa,’ he continued. ‘We have allowed judges and justices to rule over our constitution and we have become slaves to our tyranny. Immortality sweeps over our land.’
He also spent a brief moment suggesting the multiple allegation against him, of sexual assault and harassment, were really just distractions keeping peoples eyes away from the ball.
‘Even our political process has been affected by baseless and false allegations, which have become more relevant than the true issues, which effect our country,’ he said.
As Moore seemed more willing than ever to keep his campaign going, despite being bested by Jones by more than 20,000 votes, the political world had already moved on.
Democrat Jones at a press conference Wednesday said he’d been phoned by the president, who supported Moore in the final stretch, and invited to the White House once he got to Washington.
Sen. Luther Strange, who’s currently in the Alabama Senate seat, had talked to Jones too, about planning for their transition.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested there had been not contact between Trump and Moore, telling DailyMail.com she was ‘not aware’ of any phone call.
Even Alabama’s secretary of state, a self-proclaimed Moore supporter, told CNN Wednesday morning that ”Judge Moore is not the victor in this campaign.’
‘I know a lot of people would say it’s not over until it’s over, but the margin of victory for Doug Jones at this particular time looks like a very difficult amount of votes to overcome as the remaining votes that are out there to be counted next week begin to be considered at the local level,’ Secretary of State John Merrill said.
Recount decisions can’t be made until the vote is certified later in the month, but Moore would need to get within .5 per cent of Jones for the state to pay for it.
Right now the Democrat is 1.5 per cent ahead.
Republican Roy Moore was shockingly beaten by Democrat Doug Jones (pictured) who’s the first Democrat to be elected in Alabama to the Senate in 31 years
Alabama’s Secretary of State John Merrill said on CNN Wednesday morning that ‘Judge Moore is not the victor in this campaign,’ and expressed doubt that an automatic recount would be triggered looking at the election’s current vote totals
And even if Moore tried to pursue a recount that his campaign would pay for it might be mired in legal trouble.
Writing for his Election Law Blog, Rick Hasen pointed out that the two sections of the law that allows candidates to pursue what Merrill called an ‘on-demand recount’ don’t mention the U.S. Senate as an office where the statute applies.
Under one section of the law those that can pursue a recount include candidates for ‘Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, Public Service Commissioner, senator or representative in the Legislature, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the courts of appeals, judge of the circuit court or district court, or any office which is filled by the vote of a single county, or to the office of constable.’
The other section of the law mentions, ‘any person declared to be elected to the office of senator or representative in the Legislature, judge of the circuit court or district court, any office which is filled by the vote of a single county, or constable.’
‘Moore is not those,’ Hasen noted.