BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Reuters) - Democrat Doug Jones won a bitter fight for a
U.S. Senate seat in deeply conservative Alabama on Tuesday, dealing a
political blow to President Donald Trump in a race marked by sexual
misconduct accusations against Republican candidate Roy Moore.
The stunning upset by Jones makes him the first Democrat elected to the
U.S. Senate from Alabama in a quarter-century and will trim the
Republicans’ already narrow Senate majority to 51-49, endangering
Trump’s agenda and opening the door for Democrats to possibly retake the
chamber in next year’s congressional elections.
The ugly campaign drew national attention and split the Republican Party
over accusations from several women that Moore pursued them when they
were teens and he was in his 30s.
Moore, 70, a Christian conservative who was removed from the state
Supreme Court in Alabama twice for ignoring federal law, denied the
allegations and said he did not know any of the women who made them.
Reuters has not independently verified the allegations.
Trump endorsed Moore even as other party leaders in Washington walked
away from him, but Jones, 63, a former federal prosecutor, portrayed the
campaign as a referendum on decency and promised the state’s voters he
would not embarrass them in Washington.
No comments:
Post a Comment