United States Senate special election in Alabama (September 26, 2017 Republican primary runoff)

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U.S. Senate Election in Alabama

Coverage

Overview • Timeline September 26 Republican primary runoff August 15 Democratic primary August 15 Republican primary

Quick Facts

First primaries: August 15, 2017 Runoff Election: September 26, 2017 General Election: December 12, 2017 Election Winner: Doug Jones (D) Incumbent: Luther Strange (R)

Race Ratings

Cook Political Report: Toss Up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss Up Rothenberg & Gonzales: Toss Up

2017-2018 Special Elections

For in-depth coverage of the December 12, 2017, general election, please click here. This page is an overview of the Republican primary runoff for the U.S. Senate special election in Alabama.

Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in the Republican primary runoff election on September 26, 2017. Although he received an endorsement from President Donald Trump and the majority of the $13.9 million spent on the primary by outside organizations went to support his run—including backing from the Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund super PAC—Strange was unable to pull ahead of Moore in any public opinion poll released following the August primary. He was the first incumbent senator to lose a primary since Indiana's Richard Lugar in 2012. Moore faced former U.S. attorney Doug Jones (D) and Arlester McBride (I) in the general election on December 12, 2017.

What were the big questions for Republican voters heading into September 26?

• How did Moore and Strange differ from each other in terms of policy and electability?
• What were the campaign strategies of each candidate?
• What happened to supporters of Mo Brooks?
• What actions would Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Leadership Fund, and other outside organizations take to stay involved in the runoff?
• Would any new outside groups or individuals get involved in the runoff?

Candidates

Roy Moore (R)

Roy Moore was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court in 2012. Moore is presented as a champion for socially conservative voters in the state by the media, after being suspended twice from the court for failing to comply with an order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse building and the holding in Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal across the country.

Before sitting on the highest court in Alabama, Moore was a judge in Etowah County and practiced law as an attorney. In announcing his candidacy, Moore said, "My position has always been God first, family then country. I share the vision of President Donald Trump to make America great again." On his campaign website, he identified implementing a flat tax, giving tax credits for employee health care coverage, encouraging coal mining and oil drilling, and eliminating the Common Core as policy priorities.

He was endorsed by the Alabama Republican Assembly, whose membership is self-described as being "Reagan conservatives, who believe in small government, lower taxes, free market capitalism, a strong defense, the right to life, and a decent America." He was criticized in a Senate Leadership Fund ad for taking a salary from a charity he and his wife ran while sitting on the state supreme court.

Luther Strange (R)

Luther Strange was appointed by Gov. Robert Bentley (R) to the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R). He was previously elected as attorney general of Alabama in 2010.

Strange announced his intent to fight for his seat in April 2017, saying, "As I’ve said for months, I’m a candidate and I’m ready to run whether the election is next month or next year. As the only announced candidate for this office, I will spend the next several months being the best Senator I can be, upholding Alabama values and working with President Donald Trump to drain the swamp and help make America great again." On his campaign website, Strange listed defending religious freedom, supporting the Trump administration's agenda, and repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act as top issues. His tenure as attorney general of Alabama focused on challenging the Obama administration's healthcare agenda and environmental regulations in court.

Strange had the support of national party leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the Senate Leadership Fund. Brooks criticized Strange for this relationship, arguing that McConnell was "the head of the swamp" that President Trump came to Washington, D.C., to drain, and that Strange was "the swamp's candidate."

Election results

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican primary runoff, September 26, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roy Moore	54.6%	262,641
	Republican	Luther Strange	45.4%	218,505
Total Votes				481,146
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican primary, August 15, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roy Moore	38.9%	164,524
	Republican	Luther Strange	32.8%	138,971
	Republican	Mo Brooks	19.7%	83,287
	Republican	Trip Pittman	6.9%	29,124
	Republican	Randy Brinson	0.6%	2,621
	Republican	Bryan Peeples	0.4%	1,579
	Republican	Mary Maxwell	0.4%	1,543
	Republican	James Beretta	0.3%	1,078
	Republican	Dom Gentile	0.1%	303
	Republican	Joseph Breault	0.1%	252
Total Votes				423,282
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

Timeline

The timeline below summarized the ten most recent noteworthy events in this election. For the complete list, please visit: Timeline of United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017.

How did Moore and Strange differ?

This section highlights the differences between Moore and Strange. It includes each candidate's policy positions, relationship with President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and appearances at candidate forums.

Debates

September 21

Roy Moore and Luther Strange appeared together on stage at the Alabama Activities Center in Montgomery on September 21, 2017. The debate did not have a moderator and questions from the media were not allowed. Moore and Strange spoke in alternating five-minute segments for a little over an hour.

Strange focused for much of the debate on President Trump's endorsement of the senator. Strange told Moore,

“	I know you may get tired of hearing this -- and you may resent that the president is my friend and is supporting me in this race -- but I think it’s a good thing that the president of the United States has a personal relationship with the junior senator from Alabama.	”
—Luther Strange (September 21, 2017)

Moore questioned Trump's endorsement of Strange and taunted his continual reminders that he had gained the President's support.

“	I can’t tell you what the president thinks,” Moore said. “I can’t tell you every move he makes, when he goes to the bathroom, when he doesn’t – like my opponent.	”
—Roy Moore (September 21, 2017)

Moore also said he wanted to see "virtue and morality returned to our country." "Our foundation has been shaken," he said. "Crime, corruption, immorality, abortion, sodomy, sexual perversion sweep our land. When we become one nation under God again, when liberty and justice for all reigns across our land, we will be truly good again."

Towards the end of the debate, the two opponents argued about whether or not Trump has been manipulated by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "The problem is President Trump’s being cut off in his office," Moore said. "He’s being redirected by people like McConnell who do not support his agenda. Who will not support his agenda in the future. I think we need to go back and look at these things. And look at what’s going on. This is the most unbelievable race I have ever been in."

Strange rebutted: "You just said that he was being manipulated by Mitch McConnell. I met Mitch McConnell six or seven months ago. I’ve already stood up to him on many occasions. And to suggest that the president of the United States, the head of the free world, a man who is changing the free world, is being manipulated by Mitch McConnell is insulting to the president. It’s absolutely insulting to the president."

Policies

Relief for Hurricane Harvey victims and debt ceiling

• Roy Moore (R): Moore criticized Strange for voting in favor of the package of bills to raise the debt ceiling and provide funding for hurricane relief efforts. In a series of tweets, he wrote on September 8, 2017, "Yesterday, my opponent Luther Strange voted with Mitch McConnell to raise the debt ceiling, adding BILLIONS to our national deficit. Strange also voted against an amendment offered by @randpaul that would've used unspent foreign aid to pay for Hurricane Harvey relief ... The games being played in Washington are exactly why we haven't replaced Obamacare, balanced the budget, or rebuilt our military."

• Luther Strange (R): On September 7, 2017, Strange voted in favor of a bundle of bills to raise the debt ceiling, funding the government until December 8, 2017, and to allocate more than $15 billion for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. “Today, I stood with President Trump and voted to deliver urgent relief to thousands of our Gulf Coast neighbors who are suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. It is high time for the federal government to balance its budget like the hardworking families of Alabama, and I remain committed to reaching a long-term solution on the debt ceiling. However, I agree with President Trump that the need to authorize critical relief funding is simply too urgent for the Senate to wait and address these issues separately," he said in a statement.

Filibuster

• Roy Moore (R): "Filibuster is where people would talk out a bill if they didn't agree with it, and they would talk how long they could talk and with other people joining in. But to overcome that they have a 60-vote rule. In my opinion, that is unconstitutional. It is a supermajority not delegated by the Founding Fathers. We have plenty of supermajorities in the Constitution ... but they didn't have a 60-vote rule. That's a majority rule on a vote on legislation. So, they're killing bills left and right. That's why not so many bills are sitting on the president's desk. ... In my opinion, Republicans, like the Democrats, high-fived a rule because they don't want people to know where they stand on these issues."

• Luther Strange (R): Strange co-signed a letter with 60 other senators advocating the filibuster in April 2017. "Senators have expressed a variety of opinions about the appropriateness of limiting debate when we are considering judicial and executive branch nominations. Regardless of our past disagreements on that issue, we are united in our determination to preserve the ability of members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor," the letter read.

On September 5, 2017, he asked for his name to be withdrawn from the letter. He wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), "Until [the majority can end debate], the ability to build a wall on our southern border, defund Planned Parenthood, give the American people tax relief and any number of other important issues will continue to be difficult, if not impossible."

Medicaid

• Roy Moore (R): When asked if he would seek the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and cuts to Medicaid, Moore responded that he "would repeal Obamacare, pure and simple."

• Luther Strange (R): "My main concern is that we take care of the issues that face us here in Alabama. We have a very thin safety net for our most disadvantaged in our Medicaid program, and I want to make sure we're not further disadvantaged in our relationship to other states. ... Make sure that we're dealing with addressing the most vulnerable among us, particularly children, elderly, and folks that can't afford it. And that we're also doing things that protect taxpayers money so that people who maybe are not as deserving of some of this government largess are not taking money away from those who need it. Because we don't have very much of a margin of error in our state."

Border security and sanctuary cities

• Roy Moore (R): At a candidate forum on July 31, 2017, Moore said that he believed allowing the military and the states to stop illegal border crossings would make building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border unnecessary. He added that if that did not prove effective, he would support the construction of a wall.

• Luther Strange (R): In May 2017, Strange sponsored S 1126 - Securing the Border and Protecting Our Communities Act, a bill seeking to re-allocate federal infrastructure and transportation grants used by sanctuary cities to fund the construction of a border wall.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA)

• Roy Moore (R): When asked in a July 2017 radio interview whether he supported Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—the Obama administration policy which allows some individuals who entered the country without legal permission as minors to receive a two-year deferral from deportation and eligibility for a work permit—Moore expressed unfamiliarity with the subject. After the radio host explained DACA, Moore said of the program continuing under the Trump administration, "Well if Trump's done it, well then, that's what Trump does. I don't necessarily agree with it." A spokesperson for Moore said on September 1, 2017, "Judge Moore doesn't speak the language of Washington, he speaks the language of the Constitution. Judge Moore opposes amnesty under any name."

• Luther Strange (R): Strange was attorney general of Alabama when it joined 25 other states in opposing the Obama administration's executive orders on DACA and DAPA in 2015. Strange also issued this statement on DACA in September 2017: “While career politician Roy Moore doesn't even know what DACA is, Luther stands with President Trump, and has fought against Obama's illegal amnesty plan — and won.”

Trade

• Roy Moore (R): Moore said that tariffs and trade restriction could be used to combat trade deficits and supported renegotiating NAFTA and CAFTA. He said in a statement, "In theory, I believe in free trade which has been the historic source of our nation's prosperity; however, because many of our trading partners are ruled by governments that strongly interfere with private enterprise, trade with such governments has been unbalanced."

• Luther Strange (R): In June 2017, The Montgomery Advertiser reported that Strange wanted to modernize NAFTA, and that he said he supported "bilateral, one-on-one trade deals that ensure that American interests do not get left behind and trading partners are held accountable."

Confederate statues

• Roy Moore (R): During a campaign stop on August 14, 2017, Moore criticized calls for the removal of Confederate statues after a protest in Charlottesville between white nationalists and counter-protesters turned violent. He questioned whether protesters would next seek to remove statues of George Washington, who was a slaveowner. "Monuments don’t create hate—people do. We’re living in a crazy world," Moore said.

• Luther Strange (R): Strange started a petition in support of retaining Confederate statues. He wrote in a Facebook post, "We shouldn't be erasing history. We should be learning from it. That's the only way our country moves forward. If we start removing things because they offend people, we start down a slippery slope that is very dangerous for our country."

Same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court

• Roy Moore (R): Discussing Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage, Moore said, "I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. It not only violates the Constitution, it violates the federal rules of procedure. An injunction can only be issued to the parties in the case, and the parties in any case don’t extend across the country. They’re making rulings that have no basis and nobody is calling their hand. One of the things I’d like to do in the Senate is back the House on impeachment of judges and remove them. If they put themselves above the Constitution, they should be removed."

• Luther Strange (R): As attorney general of Alabama, Strange said of Obergefell, "Today the United States Supreme Court overturned centuries of tradition and the will of the citizens of a majority of the States in declaring that Alabama and the rest of the nation must legally recognize same-sex marriage. ... While I do not agree with the opinion of the majority of the justices in their decision, I acknowledge that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling is now the law of the land. Short of the passage of a Constitutional Amendment protecting marriage as between one man and one woman, the U.S. Supreme Court has the final say. But while the states are now required to recognize same-sex marriage, I expect the focus will now turn to the exercise of one’s religious liberty."

Relationship with President Trump

Roy Moore

In April 2017, Moore said that Trump's victory was God's will. "God puts people in positions in positions he wants. ... I believe he sent Donald Trump in there to do what Donald Trump can do," he said. Moore said of Trump's agenda, "I support President Trump's agenda of making America great again. But I submit to you that we can only make America great again if we make America good."

Trump predicted on the eve of the Republican primary runoff that Moore would face a tougher general election than Strange during a radio interview with a local syndicated show. "Luther Strange is going to be a great Senator. He loves Alabama, he loves the state and he loves the country. He will absolutely win against the Democrat. Ray will have a hard time. If Luther wins, the Democrats will hardly fight. If Ray wins (Democrats) will pour in $30 million," Trump said, incorrectly referring to Moore's first name, Roy.

Luther Strange

Trump campaigned for Strange in Huntsville, Alabama, on September 22, 2017. Although he promoted Strange as sharing the agenda of the Trump administration, he described the endorsement as a risk. "I'll be honest, I might have made a mistake, because, you know, here's the story. If Luther doesn't win, they're not going to say we picked up 25 points in a very short period of time. They're going to say, ‘Donald Trump, the president of the United States, was unable to pull his candidate across the line. It is a terrible, terrible moment for Trump. This is total embarrassment.'" He added that he believed Moore would have a more difficult time in the general election, but described both Republican candidates as good men. In the more than hour-long speech, Trump also discussed healthcare and the border wall and criticized NFL athletes who protested racial oppression by kneeling during the national anthem.

Trump tweeted support for Strange on September 20, 2017. "Alabama is sooo lucky to have a candidate like 'Big' Luther Strange. Smart, tough on crime, borders & trade, loves Vets & Military. Tuesday!" he said. Another tweet read, "The NRA strongly endorses Luther Strange for Senator of Alabama.That means all gun owners should vote for Big Luther. He won't let you down!"

Trump endorsed Strange on August 8, 2017. He tweeted, "Senator Luther Strange has done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama. He has my complete and total endorsement!" Trump also recorded a robocall for Strange that was released the day before the election. "Unemployment is at a record low, jobs are flowing back into the country, we have a great Supreme Court Judge in Justice Gorsuch, we are doing things a lot of people said were impossible, but I need Luther to help us out," Trump said in the recording.

When asked on August 31, 2017, if Trump still supported Strange in the primary runoff election, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "Due to the legal restrictions that I have, I cannot answer anything political from the podium. So I’d have to leave that to outside folks and the President himself to answer that." Trump later tweeted on September 16, 2017, that he would campaign for Strange in Alabama on September 23.

In an interview on July 9, 2017, Strange suggested his work as attorney general of Alabama was in line with Trump's agenda. “We were doing what Donald Trump wants us to do now. That may have been what persuaded me to accept the appointment because we finally have [a] president [who] wants to shake up Washington," he said.

Strange described himself as a strong supporter of Trump during a candidate forum on July 8, 2017. "President Trump is the greatest thing that's happened to this country. I consider it a Biblical miracle that he's there," he said. He was also involved with the group Conservative Lawyers for Trump before the election.

According to a study from FiveThirtyEight, Strange voted in line with Trump's position 91.7 percent of the time, as of September 6, 2017.

Relationship with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

On August 10, 2017, President Donald Trump indicated his displeasure with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)'s performance. When asked if he believed McConnell should resign, Trump told reporters, "If he doesn't get repeal and replace [of ObamaCare] done, and if he doesn't get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure, if he doesn't get them done, then you can ask me that question." This is how the Republican primary candidates responded to the rift between Trump and McConnell:

• Moore: In an interview, Moore declined to directly comment on the tension between Trump and McConnell. He said, "I’m not going to say anything good about Mitch McConnell, who’s running the fund that’s attacking me with ads. Now, I won’t do that. But I won’t say anything bad out him ... I won’t judge that. That’s between them."
• Strange: Strange, who was endorsed by Trump and had the support of the McConnell-backed Senate Leadership Fund, said, "We all need to get back to work. I was part of the group of Republican senators who said we shouldn’t even take a vacation. I don’t know why we’re taking a vacation. We should be working to pass the president’s agenda and deal with the problems we failed to address last time." He added that Trump was "frustrated like I am, and this is no secret."

Candidate forums

Moore, Strange address Alabama Republican Party

Moore and Strange addressed a crowd of more than 400 members of the Alabama GOP executive committee on August 26, 2017. Moore was critical of Strange's involvement with the Republican establishment, while Strange touted his relationship with President Trump.

Moore denounced Strange for receiving financial backing from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“	There's a Washington crowd trying to buy this election...They don't want change in Washington. They want to keep it like it is, and they want to fool the people of Alabama.	”
—Roy Moore (2017)

Moore also added that Trump was not part of his reference to the "Washington crowd."

Strange spoke of his relationship with Trump:

“	I have a personal relationship with the president. He cares very much about Alabama. I couldn't be more proud to have his unconditional endorsement. Why is that important? Because we in this room care about his agenda. It's going to make America great again.	”
—Luther Strange (2017)

Strange also spoke of his record as attorney general, which he said included lawsuits against the former president Obama's administration and assembling a public corruption unit.

How did Moore and Strange perform in public opinion polls?

U.S. Senate special election in Alabama, Republican primary runoff
Poll	Roy Moore	Luther Strange	Would not vote	Unsure	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Trafalgar Group September 23-24, 2017	57%	41%	0%	3%	+/-3.0	1,073
Cygnal September 23-24, 2017	52%	41%	0%	7%	+/-3.1	996
Optimus September 22-23, 2017	55%	45%	0%	10%	+/-2.9	1,035
Emerson College September 21-23, 2017	50%	40%	0%	10%	+/-5.1	367
FOX10 News/Strategy Research September 20, 2017	54%	46%	0%	0%	+/-3	2,000
Raycom News Network/Strategy Research September 18, 2017	53%	47%	0%	0%	+/-3	2,930
JMC Analytics September 16-17, 2017	47%	39%	0%	13%	+/-4.4	500
Voter Surveys & Consulting September 9-10, 2017	41%	40%	0%	19%	+/-4	604
Emerson College September 8-9, 2017	40%	26%	0%	34%	+/-5.2	355
Strategic National September 6-7, 2017	51%	35%	0%	14%	+/-3.5	800
Southeast Research August 29-31, 2017	52%	36%	0%	12%	+/-5.0	401
Harper Polling August 24-26, 2017	47%	45%	0%	8%	+/-4.0	600
Voter Surveys & Consulting August 21-23, 2017	45%	41%	0%	9%	+/-4.0	601
Opinion Savvy August 22, 2017	50.3%	32.2%	0%	17.5%	+/-4.4	494
JMC Analytics August 17-19, 2017	51%	32%	0%	17%	+/-4.3	515
Cygnal/L2 August 8-9, 2017	45%	34%	8%	13%	+/-4.4	502
Note: A "0%" finding means the question was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

What were the campaign strategies of each candidate?

This section highlights where Moore and Strange are focusing their campaigns. It includes each candidate's campaign spending, campaigning style on the trail and online, and campaign ads.

Spending

Note: The pre-primary filing deadline for this race was on August 3, 2017. The pre-runoff filing deadline was on September 14, 2017.

On the campaign trail

Moore's comments at Florence, Ala. rally

While campaigning in Florence, Alabama, on September 17, 2017, Moore used two words historically considered slurs of Native Americans and East Asians during a discussion of divisions in the country. He said, "We were torn apart in the Civil War — brother against brother, North against South, party against party. What changed? Now we have blacks and whites fighting, reds and yellows fighting, Democrats and Republicans fighting, men and women fighting. What’s going to unite us? What’s going to bring us back together? A president? A Congress? No. It’s going to be God."

On the road

Both candidates held meet-and-greets across the state at restaurants and local Republican clubs. Strange targeted farmers and agricultural groups in his campaign stops, including appearing at an event in Clear Point, Alabama, with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. Moore was interviewed on local conservative radio shows.

The following lists are a sampling of appearances highlighted on the candidates' social media accounts and campaign websites in the six weeks before the Republican primary.

Moore

• Etowah County, rally (August 7)
• Grove Hill Baptist Church (August 6)
• Toni and Gary Show, radio interview (August 2)
• Lee County, meet and greet (August 1)
• North Jefferson Republican Club (July 24)
• Republican Women of Coffee County (July 19)
• Baldwin County GOP Picnic and Candidate Forum (July 15)
• Coffee County Republican Party Forum (July 10)
• News Radio 92.5 FM, radio interview (July 8)
• Mid Alabama Republican Club (July 8)

Strange

• Decatur, meet and greet (August 9)
• Tallapoosa River Electric Cooperative Annual Meeting (August 6)
• Tuscaloosa Young Republicans (July 30)
• Susan B. Anthony List, meet and greet (July 27)
• Eastern Shore Republican Women's Annual Fish Fry (July 22)
• Baldwin County GOP Club (July 22)
• Clear Point, meeting with farmers (July 21)
• Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center (July 14)
• St. Clair County, meet and greets (July 14)
• Several appearances on Fox News (July)

Online presence

The following social media statistics were compiled on September 19, 2017. While Strange had an account for his official congressional duties, the numbers below reflect his separate Senate campaign social media presence. Although Moore had fewer followers on both Facebook and Twitter than Strange, he expanded his online following at a greater rate since August 3, 2017. For example, Moore's number of Twitter followers grew by 325 percent. Over the same time period, Strange saw a 10 percent increase.

September 19, 2017

Social media presence on September 19, 2017
	Facebook			Twitter
Candidate	Followers	Likes	Comments on Last Post	Followers	Following	Tweets
Moore	59,830	61,167	29	7,260	32	373
Strange	104,869	108,061	22	9,038	1,485	1,644

August 3, 2017

Social media presence on August 3, 2017
	Facebook			Twitter
Candidate	Followers	Likes	Comments on Last Post	Followers	Following	Tweets
Moore	54,133	55,591	28	1,709	16	183
Strange	104,564	107,717	14	8,191	1,482	1,344

Tweets by Roy Moore Tweets by Luther Strange

Search term popularity over time

Google Trends provides a comparison of the relative popularity of two or more search terms. According to the website, "Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. Likewise a score of 0 means the term was less than 1% as popular as the peak."

Campaign advertisements

Roy Moore

Support

"Born to Fight" - Moore campaign ad, released June 3, 2017

"Conservative: Alabama Over Washington" - Moore campaign ad, released July 25, 2017

"Defeat the Deceivers" - Moore campaign ad, released August 8, 2017

Oppose

"Fund" - Senate Leadership Fund ad, released August 2, 2017

"Again" - Senate Leadership Fund ad, released August 2, 2017

"Swamp Critter" - Strange campaign ad, released September 6, 2017

Luther Strange

Support

"Shooting Range" - Strange campaign ad, released May 30, 2017

"Wall" - Strange campaign ad, released June 27, 2017

"Diner" - Strange/National Republican Senatorial Committee ad, released July 11, 2017

"Drain the Swamp" - Strange campaign ad, released July 31, 2017

"Mad" - Strange campaign ad, released September 11, 2017

"Stand with Luther Strange" - Strange campaign ad, released September 15, 2017

Oppose

"It's a Deal" - Swamp Drainers PAC ad, released July 17, 2017

"Big Time Lobbyist" - Great America Alliance ad, released September 12, 2017

How were outside organizations and party leaders getting involved in the race?

This section highlights how influencers, including outside organizations, party leaders, elected officials, and journalists, are engaging with the race. It includes endorsements, independent spending, and media coverage.

Endorsements

The table below summarizes the endorsements Ballotpedia identified for the two Republican candidates in the primary runoff race.

Most recent endorsement: The Tea Party Express PAC endorsed Moore on September 25, 2017.

Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Republican candidate endorsements
Endorsement	Date	Moore	Strange
Federal officials
Ben Carson, Housing and Urban Development Secretary	September 22, 2017
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)	September 21, 2017
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.)	September 20, 2017
Sebastian Gorka, former deputy assistant to the President	September 19, 2017
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)	September 16, 2017
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.)	September 16, 2017
Former Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Ky.)	September 12, 2017
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)	September 8, 2017
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)	September 7, 2017
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus	September 6, 2017
Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.)	August 23, 2017
President Donald Trump (R)	August 8, 2017
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell	June 8, 2017
National figures
Roger Stone, conservative author	September 20, 2017
Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com	September 15, 2017
Ann Coulter, conservative commentator	September 14, 2017
Laura Ingraham, conservative commentator	September 14, 2017
L. Brent Bozell, ForAmerica chairman	September 13, 2017
Erick Erickson, conservative blogger	September 12, 2017
Ed Martin, Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund president	September 8, 2017
Sean Hannity, Fox News host	September 6, 2017
Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas	September 5, 2017
Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist	August 29, 2017
Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska	August 24, 2017
Alan Keyes, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs under Ronald Reagan	August 16, 2017
James Dobson, evangelical leader	August 12, 2017
Phil Robertson, reality television personality	August 10, 2017
Chuck Norris, actor	August 7, 2017
Steve Deace, writer for the Washington Times	August 4, 2017
John Giles, former President of the Christian Coalition of Alabama	August 3, 2017
State figures
State Sen. Phil Williams (R-Ala.)	August 30, 2017
State Sen. Trip Pittman (R-Ala.)	August 26, 2017
Jim Zeigler, state auditor of Alabama	August 25, 2017
State Sen. Larry Stutts (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Mike Ball (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. K.L. Brown (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Danny Crawford (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Lynn Greer (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Tommy Hanes (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Ed Henry, chairman of Trump's state campaign (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Mike Holmes (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Becky Nordgren (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Ritchie Whorton (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Rich Wingo (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
State Rep. Randy Wood (R-Ala.)	August 22, 2017
Fob James, former Governor of Alabama	August 9, 2017
Tim James, former opponent to Moore	August 9, 2017
Jim Carns (R-Ala.)	August 8, 2017
Perry O. Hooper Jr., co-chair of Trump campaign in Alabama	May 17, 2017
Bill Armistead, former Chair of the Alabama Republican Party and former State Senator	June 6, 2017
Local figures
Chris Curry, former Shelby County sheriff	July 13, 2017
Organizations
Coalition of African-American Pastors	September 18, 2017
United States Chamber of Commerce	September 6, 2017
National Organization for Marriage	August 30, 2017
National Federation of Republican Assemblies	August 28, 2017
National Association for Gun Rights	August 28, 2017
National Right To Life	August 3, 2017
Gun Owners of America	August 2, 2017
Alabama Republican Assembly	July 31, 2017
Alabama Credit Union Association	July 6, 2017
Alabama Rural Electric Association	May 31, 2017
National Rifle Association	May 26, 2017
Alabama Farmers Federation	May 22, 2017
PACs
Tea Party Express PAC	September 25, 2017
Family Research Council Action PAC	September 18, 2017
National Association of Realtors PAC	September 18, 2017
Senate Conservatives Fund	September 5, 2017
America First	August 11, 2017
Senate Leadership Fund	May 15, 2017

Endorsement changes

Ballotpedia tracked whether or not endorsers of Mo Brooks prior to the August 15 primary changed their endorsements to either Moore or Strange in advance of the September 26 runoff. The table below includes the endorsements Brooks received in the primary and indicates if the endorser changed to back one of the runoff candidates. On September 16, Brooks himself endorsed Moore.

Have individuals/organizations re-aligned their endorsements for the runoff?
Pre-August 15 primary endorsement of Brooks	Re-aligned with Moore	Re-aligned with Strange
Federal officials
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), chair of the House Freedom Caucus
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.)
National figures
Ann Coulter, conservative commentator
Sean Hannity, Fox News host
Rep. Ed Henry (R-Ala.), chairman of Trump's state campaign
Mark Levin, conservative radio host
Six Alabama delegates for Donald Trump
Organizations
Alabama Patriots Tea Party
Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund
Women Vote Trump
PACs
Courageous Conservatives PAC
Senate Conservatives Fund

What happened to the supporters of Mo Brooks?

In the weeks following the August 15 election, Ballotpedia reached out to the figures and organizations who endorsed Mo Brooks.

Rep. Mark Meadows: Chair of the House Freedom Caucus

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) endorsed Roy Moore on September 6, 2017. Meadows originally endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks ahead of the primary election in which he placed third. Ballotpedia spoke with Meadows on August 23 about the state of the runoff election.

Question: With Brooks out of the race, which candidate do you think will most closely align with the issues you prioritize in the Freedom Caucus?
Meadows: We haven't endorsed anyone at this particular point, but my opinion is that most of Brooks' supporters will move to Moore. Judge Moore is seen as anti-establishment. For the people of Alabama, there's only one question: Is Alabama for sale? Luther Strange thinks it is.

Question: How do you feel about the spending McConnell and the Senate Leadership Fund made into the August 15 election?
Meadows: It's a big concern that they are spending that much money on a 3-month incumbent. That would indicate to me that they know he would fall in line with leadership no matter what.

Question: Do you have thoughts about Trump's involvement in these 2017 races?
Meadows: I saw the internal polls. It was a toss-up for second place between Brooks and Strange prior to Trump's involvement. Part of Trump's involvement was probably chalked up to older negative comments Brooks' made about Trump.

Question: What is your general sense of how these special elections primaries have been breaking for Republicans in terms of establishment versus outsiders?
Meadows: Special elections are tough. Turn-out models are unpredictable. Millions and millions of dollars come into these races and some of the narratives may not be based on fact- Strange being viewed as an ally of Trump, for example. Strange is someone who believes the filibuster should be left in place, even though that's the number one reason we aren't able to get anything done.

State Rep. Ed Henry

State Rep. Ed Henry (R) endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks on August 2. Following the August 15 election, Henry endorsed Roy Moore. Ballotpedia spoke with him on August 24 about the state of the runoff election and his latest endorsement.

Question: After the August 15 primary, you decided to endorse Judge Moore. What factors did you consider?
Henry: I very naturally gravitate toward a nonpolitician who says what he means and means what he says and stands behind their own decisions. Mo Brooks has that quality. Roy Moore has that quality. Strange puts political strategy above principle.

Question: As Trump's Alabama campaign chair, what did you think about Trump's endorsement of Strange?
Henry: I was disappointed that he was willing to make a deal with Mitch McConnell. I still believe he will be and is a great president and I understand that sometimes political decisions need to be made.

What will happen is that we will disregard the political decision Trump made and instead send him a true, principled conservative. He will be happy. We will get the best of both worlds.

I wish he had withheld the decision for another month. If he had, Strange would not have even made the runoff. Unfortunately, I think Trump has hurt himself inside of Alabama far worse than he has helped Strange.

Question: What do you make of all the outside spending in this race?
Henry: This is a test case. If Luther Strange loses in Alabama, there will be other charges to the establishment across the country. For McConnell, this is a bellwether for what will happen to their senators. They are willing to risk everything to make sure they keep their seats. For us, the resistance, the regular people, this is also a bellwether. If we do not win, the establishment has the victory.

The establishment and McConnell want to be in control. Generally, that means they do nothing significant when they are in control. They talk about wanting to build a wall and fix healthcare and they may put up bills, but they are bills designed to fail. The pretend game for McConnell is that they are trying but don't have the numbers so then they can blame Democrats.

This is a bellwether for both sides. For us it will mean that several established senators will have viable challengers. It will drastically weaken the establishment when Moore wins.

SLF spending leading up to Sept. 26

On August 31, 2017, Chris Pack of the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) spoke with Ballotpedia about the nature of their efforts in the final four weeks of the election. Earlier in the day, it was announced that SLF would spend $3.1 million in TV and radio advertisements and $500,000 in digital advertising in the final weeks.

Question: What will be the focus of this latest round of ad buys?
Pack: I don't think Roy Moore has ever endured a statewide paid campaign against him, so if you peel back the layers on the onion, there's a lot of information about Moore that the voters of Alabama may not be aware of. The voters need to know that Moore's charity paid him and his wife a $1 mil salary and access to a private jet. When he was waging his fight against the 10 Commandments removal, he said that tax payers wouldn't get billed for the fight, but they did. When Moore laid off 170 court workers, he blamed a funding shortfall, but then gave himself a raise. There's more to him than voters currently realize.

Question: With Congress coming back into session soon, is there a particular issue that Strange might be voting on that will resonate with Alabama voters?
Pack: Strange's clear support of the border wall will be appealing to Alabama. The wall is very popular in Alabama, and Strange has expressed his support for the wall in numerous ads.

Independent spending

See also: Independent spending in 2016 U.S. Senate primaries

As of September 25, 2017, 25 organizations had collectively spent $13.9 million on the race. Approximately 68 percent of that spending came from the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) to back incumbent Sen. Luther Strange.

By comparison, the average amount of money spent on Senate primaries by outside organizations in 2016 was $2.9 million; the median was $941,816. Four organizations spent less than $530,000 on Republicans in the Senate race in Alabama in 2016.

The following organizations made expenditures in this race:

• A Time for Choosing spent $80,000 on advertising and voter outreach for Moore.

• America First Action, Inc. spent $155,000 on digital advertising to support Strange.

• America First Policies spent more than $450,000 on a mail campaign and advertising for Strange.

• Citizens Against Carpetbaggers spent more than $21,000 to oppose Strange.

• The Conservative Majority Political Action Committee spent more than $30,000 on direct mail fundraisers to support Moore. The PAC described its purpose on its website as identifying and supporting candidates "with the moral courage to assert and defend our God-given rights" and "return this nation to its virtuous foundational core."

• Courageous Conservatives PAC spent $3,500 on social media advertising for Moore.

• Family Research Council Action PAC spent $10,000 on social media advertising for Moore.

• Great America PAC spent $20,000 on "estimated online voter contact" for Moore.

• Great America Alliance spent more than $118,000 on advertising to support Moore.

• Human Rights Campaign PAC spent approximately $5,000 on mailers and get-out-the-vote expenses to oppose Moore and Strange.

• Madison Project, Inc. spent $68,000 on advertising to oppose Strange.

• The National Association for Gun Rights PAC spent aproximately $500 on an email campaign for Moore.

• The National Republican Senatorial Committee spent $200,000 on media placement and production to support Strange.

• The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund endorsed Strange, saying in a statement, "Strange’s leadership on Second Amendment issues as a US senator and Alabama Attorney General has earned him the highest attainable rating, an 'A+' from the NRA-PVF in the Aug. 15 Republican special primary election. An 'A+' is reserved for a legislator with not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment." The NRA-PVF spent more than $1 million to support Strange.

• Our Future in America, Inc. spent $26,000 on online advertising to support Moore.

• Patriots for Economic Freedom, a PAC which describes itself as "dedicated to lower taxes, less government spending and more freedom," spent $14,000 to support Moore.

• Proven Conservative PAC spent $125,000 to support Moore through television ad buys.

• Public Advocate of the United States spent more than $6,000 on digital listings and services to support Moore's campaign.

• Revive America PAC spent nealy $10,000 on voter contact for Moore.

• The Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) spent $65,000 on email marketing and donation processing to support Brooks. Following the primary, SCF spent $46,000 to back Moore.

• Politico reported on July 31, 2017, that the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) would spend up to $8 million to back Strange.
  • On May 8, 2017, the SLF announced that it had reserved $2.6 million for advertisements to support Strange in the special election slated to appear between July 11 and August 15, 2017.
  • According to Chris Pack, the organization's spokesperson, the spending was the first in a series of intended purchases. Pack said, "A lot of people in glass houses are throwing stones in Alabama, and they will quickly realize that this won't be going unanswered. This $2.65 million buy is just an initial down payment on Senate Leadership Fund's commitment to supporting Senator Strange."
  • The SLF released two ads on July 12, 2017, criticizing Mo Brooks for not supporting President Donald Trump and comparing him to high-profile Democratic figures like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
  • The SLF announced on August 31, 2017, that they planned to spend $3.6 million in TV, radio, and digital advertising in the final weeks leading up to the runoff election.

• Solution Fund spent approximately $45,000 on digital advertising and automated calls to support Moore.

• The Swamp Drainers Foundation, a PAC founded in June 2017, spent $85,000 on media production and advertising to oppose Strange.

• The Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund spent approximately $13,000 on robocalls to support Brooks.

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent more than $965,000 to support Strange.

On June 28, 2017, the Republican National Committee also approved $350,000 to be spent on the Alabama Senate race. Politico reported that these funds were expected to boost Strange's campaign.

Political analysis of general election outcome

After the election, party leaders and journalists tried to explain the causes and consequences of Jones defeating Moore. Frequently mentioned issues included the sexual misconduct and assault allegations against Moore, the involvement of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in the race, discontent with the Republican Party, and Democratic coalition-building.

Flawed candidate

Philip Wegmanm, Washington Examiner

"Roy Moore did something normally so impossible it would be considered downright miraculous if it weren’t so odious. By running such a terrible campaign and by having such an awful past, Moore helped Alabama adopt New York values. More specifically, he pushed them to elect Doug Jones, the only pro-abortion senator from the Deep South.

After credible, substantiated, and corroborated allegations surfaced that Moore had a thing for teenagers, the race narrowed. Moore went on the defensive. Jones went on the offensive. And Alabama, as the New Yorker observed, was forced to decide between 'the morality of sexual predation and the morality of abortion.' Many voters likely made their decision on pragmatic grounds, no doubt reasoning that Jones couldn’t do much to push pro-abortion reforms. Assuming there isn’t another Supreme Court nomination or big-ticket legislation before 2018 when the Senate shakes up next, they’re probably right.

But the simple fact remains that Moore, the aspiring one-man vice squad, made social conservatives vote against their conscience. In short, he broke the Bible Belt."

Editors, National Review

"Roy Moore did the nearly impossible and lost an Alabama Senate seat for the Republican party.

Only a historically flawed candidate could have managed it, and Roy Moore fit the bill. Twice bounced from the Alabama supreme court, prone to kooky and noxious views, ignorant of the law and public policy, Moore was already a shaky electoral bet even before allegations from multiple women emerged that he had dated or forced his attentions on them when he was a grown man and they were teenagers. Moore’s denials were tinny, contradictory, and unconvincing.

A swath of the GOP tried to do the prudent and decent thing and force Moore from the race in favor of a write-in candidate. But Moore, who has made a career of poor judgment, insisted that he wouldn’t leave. Probably only President Trump had the sway to get him out of the race. After a brief period of sitting on the fence, Trump decided to back Moore, under the influence of his cut-rate Svengali Steve Bannon, who never met a disreputable political candidate he didn’t like."

Chris Cillizza, CNN

"Moore is, was and always will be a deeply flawed candidate. Even before the allegations of sexual impropriety arose, Moore had a history of underperforming other Republican office holders on the ballot.

Yes, he had his core base of 35% or so who would never leave him no matter what he said or what people said about him. And, in a Republican primary, that was enough. But Moore showed zero inclination or ability to ever expand beyond that hardcore base. His candidacy felt more geared toward the 1950s than 2017.

Meanwhile, Jones avoided being labeled a national Democrat and did everything he could to make the race about values -- and who better shared the values of the average Alabama voter. He didn't spend tons of time talking about abortion or guns. He talked about the economy and about how Moore let his own personal ideology get in the way of doing what was right for the state.

The lesson: Even in a state as red as Alabama, you can't nominate a massively flawed candidate and just expect the partisanship of the electorate to deliver a win for you. Particularly when the other side nominated a credible alternative."

Campaign strategy

Paul Gattis, AL.com

"Could Moore have done more? Instead of being the absentee candidate who ran an absentee campaign, could Moore have overcome his eventual small margin of defeat by embracing voters rather than keeping himself at safe distances if not outright ignoring them?

Moore essentially campaigned on reputation alone. He sat back with the expectation that the support he's enjoyed in twice being elected to the Alabama Supreme Court would carry him past Jones—the energetic, workaholic candidate who would squeeze three events in three different cities in the same day.

Moore, meanwhile, always seemed like the reluctant candidate. That's not to say he didn't want to win and become senator, it's just that he seemed to have a distaste for the pursuit of votes. ... They decided that the allegations mattered. They decided that Moore's campaign was more about his vision of how the world should be rather than an effort to see the world through the eyes of his voters."

Steve Bannon

Katie Glueck, McClatchy Washington Bureau

"Blame for that situation, some Republicans say, sits in part with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist who now helms the hard-right outlet Breitbart. He was a vocal backer of Moore’s during the primary runoff and in the general election, and has pledged to be deeply involved in GOP primaries going forward.

'Hopefully voters learn not to listen to people who make the argument that someone like Roy Moore is the right direction for the party,' Williams said. 'This is a real blow for the Bannon wing of the party. They can no longer claim their preferred candidate prevails in general elections. That wing of the party took what should have been a slam-dunk race…and threw it away to a Democrat with a candidate who not only turned out to be a loose cannon, but a child molester.'

In a statement, the Senate Leadership Fund, a Mitch McConnell-aligned super PAC that spent millions, unsuccessfully, against Moore in the GOP Senate primary in Alabama, also blasted Bannon’s 'fiasco.'"

David Smith, The Guardian

"At first, when the Washington Post reported that Moore faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers, it did, according to all known political rules, render him a toxic figure. Trump kept his distance, Senate leader Mitch McConnell spurned him and even Fox News host Sean Hannity wanted answers.

But what made this different from past norms was the swaggering Bannon, perhaps seduced into believing he could work miracles after his success with Trump last year. Bannon kept faith with 70-year-old Moore and, slowly but surely, reeled Trump, Hannity and the Republican National Committee back in with a brazen appeal to political expediency."

Eliana Johnson and Alex Isenstadt, Politico

"Prior to the election, McConnell told associates that he wanted to destroy Bannon politically, according to one person familiar with the Republican leader’s thinking. Their goal: to curtail his influence ahead of the 2018 midterms, in which Bannon has vowed to recruit candidates to knock off McConnell-backed incumbents.

Bannon is supporting Danny Tarkanian, who has vowed to unseat Nevada’s Republican senator, Dean Heller, as well as former New York congressman and ex-convict Michael Grimm, who is trying to recapture his old House seat.

McConnell hopes Tuesday’s outcome will put a dent in those efforts. His allies argue that Bannon is a charlatan — a man who has sold himself to the president as the guru of the Trump movement who possesses a preternatural understanding of the president’s political base only to drive the president into a ditch in Alabama.

'Bannon hurt Trump by giving him poor advice,' said Scott Reed, a political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The results in Alabama, Reed said, 'hurt the Trump movement.'"

Mitch McConnell

Sean Hannity, Fox News

"I think Mitch McConnell has a lot of culpability in all of this. I was a Mo Brooks supporter from Day One. ... I thought he would have been a great candidate. The person that came out strongest against Mo Brooks...was Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell literally put himself in the middle of the race time and again, and it didn't work out well for him."

Andy Campbell, Huffington Post

"No sooner had the election map turned blue than the Republicans at this party began to point fingers.

'There’s blood in the water for Mitch McConnell, it leads back to him. This room is gonna be walking out with a vengeance. We know who’s responsible,' said Chanel Rion, the 27-year-old fiancee of Missouri Senate candidate Courtland Sykes.

Sykes himself was even more fire-and-brimstone, worried that establishment Republicans ― not Democrats ― were winning the war against 'MAGA candidates,' a shorthand for President Donald Trump’s 'make America great again' campaign slogan.

'This is impossible. This is 100-percent an effort by the Washington establishment to keep Roy Moore out of it,' Sykes told HuffPost. 'If they can put a Democrat in office in Alabama, in 2017, to replace Jeff Sessions, even after Donald Trump won by a landslide in 2016, that means they can replace anyone they want. We don’t have an honest republic if this can happen. Does that make sense?'"

Ben Jacobs, The Guardian

"Besides Trump, other Moore allies were less enthusiastic about the result and cast the blame on the Republican establishment. Andy Surabian, a Bannon ally and chief strategist for the Great America Alliance Super Pac told the Guardian: 'By doing everything in their power to defy the president and throw this race to a liberal Democrat, [senator majority leader Mitch] McConnell and his allies just ignited a firestorm with the grassroots.'

Corey Stewart, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for US Senate in Virginia in 2018, who had come to Alabama to campaign for Moore’s, said: 'The Republican establishment got exactly what it wanted. It wanted to defeat a pro-Trump candidate like Judge Moore.'"

Turnout and demographics

Matthew Dowd, ABC News

"The GOP did not have a turnout problem in Alabama or Virginia. In fact, in normal election year turnouts (like in midterms), enough GOP voters turned out to carry Roy Moore and Ed Gillespie to victory. In 2014, if Roy Moore had gotten the 650,000 votes he got Tuesday night in a race for governor he would have beaten the Democratic candidate overwhelmingly. (The Democrat in 2014 got approximately 427,000 votes). The problem for Moore was that Democrats and independents were much more enthusiastic to vote (especially anti-Trump voters) and they turned out in record numbers. This same thing happened in Virginia, so we are seeing a pattern here. Normal GOP turnout, but huge turnout increases for the Democrats running."

Sean Sullivan and David Wiegel, The Washington Post

"Democrats held up Jones as a model for success in the midterm elections. And Jones said he wanted to change Alabama's laws to make it easier to vote, a move long championed by Democrats in the face of restrictive measures Republicans have pushed.

Even as Jones cozied up to Republican figures, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, said the way Jones won 'is exactly the way Democrats can win everywhere.'

Perez said the DNC spent about $1 million to help Jones below the radar. The money went toward turning out African-Americans and millennials, he said.

Exit poll data showed that strong turnout from black voters was a major factor in Jones's victory. He said at his news conference Wednesday that he would like to see Alabama ease its voter laws, which are among the strictest in the nation and which critics argue disproportionately hurt African-Americans.

Katie Glueck, McClatchy Washington Bureau

"The results in Alabama also offer warnings about the enthusiasm and energy of Democratic-leaning African American voters, and about the willingness of moderate Republicans to rebuke Trump’s party.

Asked whether the results should be viewed as a wake-up call, Mississippi-based GOP strategist Austin Barbour replied, 'Hell yes.'

'Yes, it’s a wake-up call,' he said. 'It’s a reminder that we have to nominate and elect real conservatives who can win general elections and can govern like conservatives.'"

Daniel Burke, CNN

"But Moore lost in large part because another group of 'values voters'—African-American women—voted overwhelmingly for his opponent, Doug Jones. A whopping 98% of black women voters cast their ballots for Jones, giving the Democrat a huge boost, exit polls show.

Black women, and men for that matter, aren't usually categorized as 'values voters' in the media, which usually reserve that term for conservative white Christians. But perhaps it's well past time for that to change."

Molly Ball, TIME

"Jones’ win was powered by a surge of Democratic turnout and a steep dropoff in Republican turnout. Almost as many Alabamans voted for him in an irregularly scheduled midwinter special election as voted for Hillary Clinton last year — but Moore got less than half as many votes as Trump had. If that kind of turnout imbalance holds, Republicans 'aren’t facing a 2018 wave, they’re facing a tsunami,' said Michael McDonald, a voter-turnout expert at the University of Florida."

Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic

"Jones beat Moore with strong turnout and a crushing lead among African Americans; a decisive advantage among younger voters; and major gains among college-educated and suburban whites, especially women. That allowed Jones to overcome big margins for Moore among the key elements of Trump’s coalition: older, blue-collar, evangelical, and non-urban white voters.

This was the same equation that powered the Democratic victories in the Virginia and New Jersey governors’ races. The consistency of these results suggests Democrats are coalescing a powerful coalition of the very voters that polls have shown are the most disenchanted, even disgusted, by Trump’s performance and behavior as president."

German Lopez, Vox

"There is also data that suggests Jones simply got much more of his base out to the polls than Moore did. Jones got about 92 percent of the raw vote total that Hillary Clinton did in 2016 in Alabama’s general election, while Moore got about 49 percent of the raw vote total that Donald Trump did in the state."

Jeff Poor, Breitbart

"In the days leading up to Tuesday’s special election, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill predicted turnout to be in the 20s. He initially said 20 percent, then revised it upward to 25 percent.

In the end, turnout came in at 40 percent, which is unheard of for an off-cycle special election in the month of December in Alabama.

High turnout marginalized Moore’s loyal base, which had been instrumental for Moore in the primary and the runoff."

The Trump effect and Republican policy agenda

Matthew Dowd, ABC News

"The biggest determinant of the election results and turnout in Alabama was not the views of Roy Moore, or the sexual allegations that surfaced and he denied, or the perception of either major party (which voters both don’t like), but the views of Donald Trump.

In 2016 Trump carried deep red Alabama by about 28 points, but on Tuesday exit polls showed 48 percent of voters disapproved of him and 47 percent approved of him (a Gallup poll done last week shows nationally 36% approval, 59 percent disapproval). And digging deeper in Alabama, 40 percent of voters strongly disapproved of the president, while 33 percent strongly approved. While the president’s numbers were worse in Virginia and New Jersey, the biggest determinant of those results were perceptions of him as well."

Sarah Kendzior, The Globe and Mail

"What the Alabama race demonstrates to Democrats is that attempting to pry away white Trump voters is a bad strategy, both morally and politically. The priority of any representative should be protecting the rights of the most vulnerable – particularly their right to vote, without which all other rights are threatened. The job of an elected official is to serve the entire body politic, something Mr. Moore showed no desire to do. He sought instead to punish certain Alabamians for their mere existence – for things no one can change, such as race or sexual orientation, or for having progressive beliefs to which they are legally entitled. Like the President, Mr. Moore ran on the politics of subjugation, and those who voted for him could do so only because they knew they would not be among the subjugated."

Matthew Yglesias, Vox

"The easy thing for Republicans to tell themselves after the stinging loss of a Senate seat in Alabama is that they only went down to defeat because the party had the misfortune to nominate someone accused of preying on teenage girls.

And there is something to that. But the Republican Party nominated a man accused of sexual misconduct to run for president in 2016, and that didn’t stop him from winning 62 percent of the vote in Alabama. Donald Trump didn’t just win Alabama a year ago — he won by a larger margin than Mitt Romney, John McCain, or George W. Bush. So while it’s undoubtedly true that the allegations played a role in the race, they hardly work as a comprehensive explanation of the outcome.

The larger issue is that the Republican Party is led by an unpopular president and unpopular congressional leaders who are pursuing an unpopular agenda, and it’s putting them in massive electoral peril."

Brendan Kirby of LifeZette

"Former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Marty Connors, appearing on 'The Ingraham Angle' as Tuesday's votes were counted, attributed Moore's loss to inaction by a Republican-controlled Congress.

'If you go to any watering hole in suburban Alabama or rural Alabama, everybody is very, very angry at Washington and they are blaming Republicans, which is the rise of Roy Moore in this race,' he said. 'Had tax reform had been passed two or three months ago, this would not have been an issue. If Obamacare had been repealed, this would not have been an issue.'

Exit polls suggested, however, that the allegations had only served to harden the positions on both sides. Six in 10 voters said they already had made up their mind before The Post published its first story. Some 86 percent of Moore voters said they did not believe the allegations, while 89 percent of Jones voters did."

Crossover appeal

Molly Ball, TIME

"Jones’s victory was also the story of a skilled, well-financed campaign powered by a dogged candidate who became a national cause célèbre for the left. The campaign and its allies focused on voter mobilization and turnout. While Moore virtually disappeared — perhaps fearing confrontation with the press, or believing that God’s will does not depend on get-out-the-vote programs — Jones’s campaign boasted it had logged millions of contacts with voters. The upscale, Republican-leaning suburbs where he drew crucial crossover votes were blanketed in Jones signs. His approach could be a road map for other Democrats to make gains in hostile territory."

Moore's loss was a win for Republicans

Katie Glueck of McClatchy Washington Bureau

"Headed into Tuesday, Republican strategists were terrified that that embrace of Moore by key elements of the party apparatus would make it even easier for Democrats to tar GOP candidates with the 'war on women' moniker they have been pushing for years.

The concern was especially acute for House candidates running in moderate suburban districts across the country, from Orange County, Calif. to the collar counties outside of Philadelphia, where there is potential for deepening anti-Republican backlash, following emerging signs of such a phenomenon in the Virginia governor’s race and statehouse races there last month.

'The outcome is going to make it much more difficult to legislate, but I think we dodged a scarlet letter for the 2018 elections,' said one California GOP consultant. 'While I expect Roy Moore will still be a minor issue, he will be nowhere near the issue he’d be if he was lurking on the Senate floor as a Republican in 2018.'"

Jon Street, RedState

"In this particular race, the Republican candidate Roy Moore is far from your typical Republican. Even before the most recent allegations against him of child molestation and sexual abuse, he voiced support for banning Muslims from serving in Congress, said that homosexual activity should be illegal, and floated the conspiracy theory that former President Obama was born in Kenya.

Moore’s opponent, meanwhile, was a relatively moderate Democrat on most issues — save his extremely progressive stance on abortion. Democrats can portray this race as a victory for Democrats if they want. I’m sure they will. But make no mistake, tonight was a win just as much for Republicans as for Democrats in the sense that Alabama affirmed it is more aligned with the political center than the extreme right.

In case the Republican Party needed any more indication that Trumpism is not a winning strategy in red states like Alabama, much less swing states like Virginia, Alabama showed the world Tuesday night that the purview of human decency still transcends the politics of tribalism."

Reactions from elected officials

The following reactions from elected and party officials were compiled from tweets and statements released following the election results on December 12, 2017.

Democrats

• Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio): "I am grateful to the women who had the courage to come forward. Because of them and so many others like them, we are seeing meaningful change. I look forward to finding opportunities to work with Doug Jones in the Senate to support middle-class families."

• Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.): "Hot DAMN."

• Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.): "Congratulations to my friend @GDouglasJones. He'll be a great colleague. President Trump went all in for Roy Moore, but proud Alabamians wisely repudiated their behavior."

• Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.): "Thank you Alabama!"

• Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez: "“Doug Jones made history tonight. He won because his values are the values of the American people.

This election wasn’t about right versus left, it was about right versus wrong. The people of Alabama sent a loud and clear message to Donald Trump and the Republican Party: you can’t call yourself the party of family values as long as you’re willing to accept vile men like Roy Moore as members."

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): "Congratulations to @GDouglasJones for his great victory. Congratulations to the people of Alabama for doing what few thought they would do. This is a victory not just for Jones and Democrats. It is a victory for justice and decency."

• Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.):"Doug Jones will be an outstanding Senator who will represent Alabama well. He was a great candidate and will be an even better Senator."

Republicans

• President Donald Trump (R): Trump congratulated Jones for his victory in a tweet on December 12, 2017. Later that night, Trump tweeted that he had predicted Moore would lose the general election. "The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!" Trump wrote.

• Sen. Steven Daines (R-Mont.): Daines tweeted, "@lutherstrange would have won this race in a landslide. It was an honor to have served with you, Luther. You are a class act."

• Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.): "Tonight's results are clear—the people of Alabama deemed Roy Moore unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate. I hope Senator-elect Doug Jones will do the right thing and truly represent Alabama by choosing to vote with the Senate Republican Majority."

• Rep. Ed Henry (R-Ala.): "Truly a sad day in Alabama. This is the result of Republican voter suppression. Way to go Richard Shelby👍 you led 20,000 Republican voters away from a Republican Senator and the Trump agenda."

• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "When it comes to Alabama politics Steve Bannon should have followed President @realDonaldTrump lead in supporting Luther Strange. Trump’s instincts on the Alabama race proved to be correct."

• Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.): "Decency wins."

• Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio): "Thankfully, today enough Republicans chose country over party. Tomorrow we must redouble our efforts to support candidates worthy of the office they seek. #TwoPaths"

Political analysis of Republican primary runoff election outcome

After the election, members of Congress, party activists, and journalists examined the political strategies and external factors leading to Moore's victory over Strange. Frequently mentioned explanations for the election outcome included lingering questions about Strange's appointment by Bentley, dissatisfaction with establishment Republicans, and Alabamian political culture.

Candidate issues

• Michael Barone of Washington Examiner: "Roy Moore had an unusual advantage for a challenger and Luther Strange had some unusual disadvantages for an incumbent. Moore has a long history of controversial involvement in Alabama politics, including his elections and ousters as chief justice of the state's Supreme Court. Few other insurgent candidates are likely to be so well known. Strange became a senator when he was appointed to fill Jeff Sessions' vacancy by Gov. Robert Bentley, who soon resigned himself due to a personal scandal. Few other 'establishment' candidates are likely to have such baggage."

• Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns of The New York Times: "Mr. Strange’s demise was in some respects as much a local phenomenon as a national one, stemming from his appointment this year by then-Gov. Robert Bentley to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mr. Strange, the state’s attorney general at the time, was overseeing an investigation into Mr. Bentley’s personal relationship with a close aide, suggesting to many in a scandal-weary state that there may have been a corrupt bargain. The newly appointed senator denied any wrongdoing, but never fully confronted the issue in a way that would eliminate the lingering cloud over the appointment. And by Monday, an adviser to Mr. McConnell, anticipating defeat, started to privately make the case that it was Mr. Bentley’s scandal and the circumstances around the appointment that was most to blame for Mr. Strange’s lackluster support."

The Trump effect

• Michael Barone of Washington Examiner: "Trump's endorsement of Strange did not carry all before it. And his appearance for Strange at a Friday night event in Huntsville was not maximally effective. The big news coming out of it was his negative commentary on the National Football League. Could a more disciplined Trump endorsement have produced the 6 points Strange turned out to need for a victory? Maybe."

• Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News: "Strange showcased Trump's backing as the central pillar of his campaign in its closing days, invoking it repeatedly in the race's only debate last week his TV ads. Muddying the waters was the fact that many of Trump's own former aides and surrogates — including one of his Cabinet secretaries, Ben Carson at HUD — lined up against him to support Moore. Former chief strategist Steve Bannon turned Breitbart News, the outlet he runs, into a nonstop anti-Strange attack machine, and used an election eve rally to warn the GOP establishment, 'Your day of reckoning is coming.'"

• Whit Ayres, Republican pollster: "You can’t just transfer the popularity of your brand to another candidate. ... No other Republican Senate incumbent will carry that baggage [the Bentley appointment]."

• Jonathan Bernstein of Bloomberg: "Trump's utter inability to move the polls despite being very visible in his support for Strange will remove some, and perhaps quite a bit, of the belief among Republican elites that Trump has some sort of special connection with their constituents. Indeed, Moore won by a larger margin in the runoff than he did in the first-round election. Which means they'll be less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt when deciding whether to do what he wants."

Mitch McConnell and Republicans in Congress

• James Hohmann of The Washington Post: "Mitch McConnell was yesterday’s biggest loser. His last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare before the end of the month failed. Corker has been one of his most reliable allies. And outside groups tied to the Kentucky senator just spent about $10 million trying to beat Moore. The judge is openly antagonistic of McConnell’s leadership and, assuming he wins the general election, will undoubtedly become a pain in his caucus."

• Bill Barrow and Kim Chandler of The Associated Press: "Roy Moore’s 9-point victory over Sen. Luther Strange, backed by the White House and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, ranks as a miscalculation and temporary embarrassment for the president; it’s a more consequential rebuke for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who Moore said should step aside as GOP floor chief."

• Jonathan Bernstein of Bloomberg: "The most likely outcome is still that Moore wins, and Republicans retain their majority, perhaps a bit smaller or even a bit larger. But as unwieldy as their slim majority was to handle this year, it's apt to get worse with Moore—who ran by bashing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell—taking a seat. Corker's replacement will probably be less inclined to cut deals and compromise, too. And the primary result in Alabama will likely encourage other primary challenges to Republican incumbents at all levels. At the worst, for Republicans, they'll lose a handful of elections as a result of fringe candidates defeating easy winners and then losing to Democrats. But even if that doesn't happen, it's going to make governing more difficult for Republicans."

• Ben Jacobs of The Guardian: "With Bannonite populists already targeting Republican incumbents in Senate seats in Nevada, Arizona and Mississippi, the question is: did these unique local factors dominate the race, or can Republican primaries now be successfully nationalized in opposition to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell? One Bannon ally joked to the Guardian on Tuesday night that 'Mitch McConnell in a Republican primary is now what Nancy Pelosi is in general elections for Democrats'. However, those races will be held under far different circumstances. Turnout is likely to be higher in an election-year primary and against incumbents who have actually won their Senate seat – unlike Strange. Further, it is rare that any candidate, let alone a primary challenger, has the level of name recognition that Moore has in Alabama."

• Noel Fritsch, Republican campaign operative: "This was a referendum, straight up, on Mitch McConnell. We ran a campaign largely against Mitch McConnell. We said Mitch’s name more than we said Luther’s."

Political reaction to Republican primary runoff election outcome

Democrats

• Former U.S. attorney Doug Jones: "I think we're going to win this race. I've always thought that—whether it was against Roy Moore or Luther Strange. We have the wind at our back. We believe we have the issues people care about which you have not heard any discussions about. People are concerned about health care and the economy. People want to see this state moving forward. I believe that we can do that."

• The New York Times reported, "Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, argued Moore's history creates 'a path to victory' even in 'tough territory' where statewide Democratic nominees often fail to reach 40 percent in a general election. ... The Democratic National Committee also pounced on Moore as 'the divisive candidate,' and the national party already has sent fundraising emails to donors soliciting contributions that would be split between the DNC and the Jones campaign. Van Hollen said he will defer to Jones on what other national help to offer."

• Tom Perez, Democratic National Committee chair: “I’ve never seen a clearer contrast between candidates Roy Moore is unfit to serve; all you have to do is ask Mitch McConnell about that. Moderate Republicans are just as offended as Democrats that Roy Moore might wind up in the Senate."

• Former Rep. Artur Davis (Ala.): "The early polling for Doug sounds good, but in the two or three polls I have seen, he is still stuck at the 38-40 percent Democratic base, no higher. To pull the 20 percent of Republicans he needs, he is going to have to make this a race about common-sense ideas, working with both sides, and avoid the temptation to portray this race as a clash of dark and light. That will backfire here quicker than Roy can say Jesus.”

Republicans

• President Donald Trump: "Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!" Following Moore's win, Trump also deleted three tweets calling on Alabama voters to vote for Strange in the primary runoff.
• Vice President Mike Pence: "Congratulations Roy Moore! We are thrilled you ran on the #MAGA agenda & we are for you!"
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): "He ran a spirited campaign centered around a dissatisfaction with the progress made in Washington. I share that frustration and believe that enacting the agenda the American people voted for last November requires us all to work together."
• Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.): "We’re dealing with a political environment that I’ve never had any experience with. The political seas, the political winds in this country right now are very hard to navigate. They’re very hard to understand. ... If this causes [Trump] any trouble, it’s not his fault."
• Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon: "Who’s sovereign, the people or the money? Alabama answered today: the people."
• Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.): "Every Republican senator had better get prepared for a challenge from the far right."
• Alabama state legislator Barry Moore: “I think incumbents are extremely vulnerable. The American people are sending a message that there’s nothing getting done in D.C., and we’re going to have to replace a lot of those people."

Media coverage

Coverage of the Alabama Senate special election focused primarily on the competitive Republican primary; the last Democratic senator from Alabama left office two decades earlier. Issues frequently mentioned in both local and national coverage included whether Strange, a sitting member of Congress, could challenge the appeal of outsider candidate Roy Moore, and the role the Senate Leadership Fund and President Donald Trump would play in the race. The following types of coverage are featured in this section:

• Party politics: Articles discussing internal Democratic or Republican Party politics, including how independent spending impacted the race.
• The candidates: Articles discussing the qualities and background of each candidate.
• The Trump effect: Articles discussing how President Donald Trump and his policy agenda could help or harm each candidate.
• Flipping the seat: Articles discussing Democratic strategy in the race.

Party politics

• Alex Isenstadt, Politico (September 16, 2017):

"Trump’s unexpected move [campaigning for Strange in the primary runoff] sets the stage for a showdown between the president and his recently departed chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who is all-in for Moore. Bannon has cast the Alabama race as an important clash between grass-roots conservatives and the Washington establishment — and a test for whether other incumbent senators can be successfully challenged by insurgents in 2018."

• Alex Isenstadt, Politico (September 10, 2017):

"President Donald Trump’s closest allies are planning a slate of primary challenges against Republican senators, potentially undermining the party’s prospects in 2018 and further inflaming tensions between GOP leaders and the White House. ... [Steve] Bannon is firing his opening shot in the Alabama Senate special election, squaring off against McConnell in a race the Senate leader and his allies have spent millions of dollars to win. While Bannon is behind controversial former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, McConnell has gone all in for Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed early this year to temporarily fill the seat after Jeff Sessions became attorney general. Speaking to prominent GOP activists at a Conservative Action Project meeting and on a Judicial Watch conference call recently, Bannon portrayed the Sept. 26 primary as a defining battle between the conservative base and GOP establishment. Trump endorsed Strange before the first round of voting in mid-August but has since done little to promote him. Recent polling has shown Moore with a significant lead. A Strange loss would be an embarrassment for McConnell and open the floodgates for other GOP primary challenges, Bannon has argued. On Thursday, Bannon and Bossie met separately with Moore in Washington."

• Alex Isenstadt, Politico (August 28, 2017):

"Appearing before a meeting of the secretive Conservative Action Project, [former White House chief strategist Steve] Bannon made it clear that he supported Moore, a favorite among evangelicals, but was careful not to cast it as a break with the president. Rather, he said, it was an act of opposition toward Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is supporting Strange and has made the race a top political priority. Bannon presented the late September primary runoff as a defining battle between the conservative base and the GOP establishment, saying that it pit those who elected Trump against those who resisted him."

• Robert Costa, Sean Sullivan, and David Weigel, The Washington Post (August 25, 2017):

"With Strange in the Senate, McConnell’s job would be easier than with Moore, a far-right fire-thrower who sent a fundraising email this week with the subject line, 'It’s time to take King McConnell’s crown.' A Moore win also would raise the possibility that future Republican Senate candidates would run on an anti-McConnell promise, especially in red-state primary races — putting his leadership in jeopardy. For Trump, who has built a brand on winning, a Strange loss in Alabama could tarnish his image as a titan of the Republican base and raise questions about how much sway he holds in down-ballot contests heading into the midterm elections."

• Matthew Boyle, Breitbart (August 24, 2017):

"The Senate Leadership Fund is run by Steven Law, an anti-Trump GOP establishment activist who has worked alongside Karl Rove at American Crossroads. President Trump thinks very lowly of Rove, telling Breitbart News in an April 2016 interview that Rove is a 'dishonorable guy.' Trump believes that Rove should not be allowed to write for the Wall Street Journal, as he is so 'dishonorable,' and Law’s and Senate Leadership Fund’s deep ties to Rove only hurt Strange more than he is already hurting in the race. What’s more, Strange and his allies are planning—sources close to them tell Breitbart News—a series of smear tactics against Moore in the final weeks. The attacks are likely to revive old and baseless charges against Moore, these sources say–something Moore is ready for, given the fact that the Washington establishment has already dumped more than $10 million into Alabama on behalf of the failing Strange’s campaign."

• Amber Phillips, The Washington Post (August 24, 2017):

"An establishment candidate is running for his political life against a controversial, say-anything figure who the elites despise. And against all political logic, the establishment may very well lose. It's as if the 2016 presidential campaign is playing out in the race to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Alabama. Only this time, President Trump is on the establishment side, and Alabama voters could very well go against the president they adore."

• Matthew Boyle, Breitbart (August 21, 2017):

"On the morning after the primary’s first round, Trump congratulated both Moore and Strange on Twitter—and it remains to be seen if he will do anything else to help Strange between now and Sept. 26 or whether he will stay out of the battle given the fact that Moore is far ahead of Strange in the polls. More than $10 million, closer to nearly $15 million, was spent on Strange’s behalf for him to finish so poorly in the race. The JMC Analytics poll Breitbart News broke exclusively on Sunday demonstrated that the attack ads either backfired on Strange or simply did not help him enough to win. Moore agrees that the people of Alabama see through it, and he does not believe any more big expenditures by Senate Leadership Fund or other McConnell-backed entities will help Strange out of the deep hole he is in with just over a month until the future holder of the U.S. Senate seat is picked. The Republican primary runoff winner is expected to easily defeat the Democrat in the general election."

• Cameron Joseph, Talking Points Memo (August 18, 2017):

And while Moore has plenty of detractors in-state who see him as a fringe rabble-rouser, even Strange’s allies admit the race is an uphill battle — one where heavy attacks from Washington-based outside groups risk backfiring on their candidate in a state where voters detest being told what to do. 'Luther’s liabilities are how he got there and that the McConnell Washington crowd have been so heavy-handed in supporting him,' said one Alabama Republican strategist who supports Strange in the race. ... The appointed senator will need to boost his support in a big way in the state’s more urban business communities — especially in and around Huntsville, Brooks’ base — and his allies worry that a deeply negative race may just turn off voters and convince them to stay home, leaving Moore with his rabid but limited base of support with the upper hand."

• John King, CNN (July 2, 2017):

"The Republican establishment in at or near panic mode about the upcoming Alabama Senate race. There is a primary August 15 and the establishment favorite—Sen. Luther Strange—is trailing. There is little fear among Republicans that Democrats could win the seat. But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is among the establishment figures alarmed that former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is ahead in polls. Moore drew national attention for recommending that Alabama judges ignore the Supreme Court ruling recognizing same-sex marriage."

• Greg Garrison, AL.com (June 9, 2017):

"Now, as he campaigns to keep the seat he was appointed to in the U.S. Senate, Luther Strange is also known for the long shadow that follows him around. His opponents openly question why Strange, as Alabama's attorney general, would accept an appointment from Gov. Robert Bentley, who was under investigation by Strange's office. It had the appearance of a shady deal, his critics and some primary opponents say."

• Jim Newell, Slate (May 15, 2017):

"Treating Luther Strange as just another incumbent who has [the National Republican Senatorial Committee's] full backing, rather than a placeholder for an open seat, is generous of them. Strange was appointed to the job only a few months ago. The man who appointed him, Gov. Robert Bentley, has since resigned upon being indicted for his cover-up of a sex scandal. Strange’s own role in the Bentley saga—as the state attorney general who was angling for a Senate appointment and perhaps didn’t want to press too hard on the governor who would appoint him—has itself come under scrutiny. It’s true that he is an incumbent senator, but Strange has yet to go through the voters. ... Two recently announced candidates are the exact sort of figures that McConnell wouldn’t want to join him in the United States Senate. Accordingly, they also don’t really care about the threats that his apparatus makes."

The candidates

• Seung Min Kim, Politico (August 14, 2017):

"Roy Moore lacks the war chest of two chief rivals in his bid to become the next senator from Alabama. He didn't land the coveted endorsement of President Donald Trump, and doesn’t enjoy the advantages of incumbency. Yet the controversial former state Supreme Court justice is coasting over his Republican challengers in Tuesday’s closely watched GOP Senate primary. Moore is set to easily secure a place in a September runoff, as the establishment-backed Sen. Luther Strange and Rep. Mo Brooks scrap for the second spot. Should Moore become the GOP nominee and the next senator from Alabama, his bombastic personality and antipathy toward Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are sure to make more trouble for the GOP leader, who's taking constant flak from Trump as it is. McConnell and his allies are spending millions to elect Strange, and in response, Moore has made McConnell the symbol of everything he opposes in Washington. 'I resent people from Washington, raising money in Washington, and sending negative ads to Alabama and trying to control the vote of the people,' Moore said in an interview after a GOP executive committee meeting here. 'If the Washington crowd wants somebody, the people of Alabama generally don’t.'"

• Decision Desk HQ (June 27, 2017):

"Luther Strange carries some baggage, from his association with Bentley, though is otherwise a mainstream Alabama conservative. However, the field for Republican primary has gotten crowded, which has prompted national Republicans to run ads for the incumbent. Fortunately for Strange, the anti-establishment vote should be fractured. Rep. Mo Brooks (R), who represents the Huntsville-area AL-05, is running. Known for his tough line on immigration, Brooks is a member of the House Freedom Caucus. The other high profile candidate in this race is ex-State Supreme Court Roy Moore (R). He is famous for losing his judgeship after refusing to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom. Moore is the most controversial candidate here, though has a strong following with social conservatives and thus shouldn’t be underestimated. There are number of other lower-tier candidates, but one of the Strange/Brooks/Moore trio will almost certainly get the nod."

• Anson Knowles, Alabama-based Libertarian radio host (June 14, 2017):

"Luther Strange has the misfortune of having been placed in the U.S. Senate by a now defunct former Governor Robert Bentley. Bentley set the election date, some say illegally, to coincide with the 2018 General Election. When Governor Kay Ivey came into power she changed the election dates to follow the Alabama Constitution’s requirements. Luther Strange was the Alabama Attorney General before being appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy created by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ ascendance to his executive branch post. Luther Strange is also infamous in Alabama for using his power to slow down the impeachment of former Governor Robert Bentley in the Alabama House last year."

"Roy Moore is also an interesting political animal. He has the distinct honor of being removed from the office of the Chief Justice twice. Roy Moore is also on the top of the polls within the Republican field to win the Special Election. Only in Alabama can someone who has been forcibly removed from public office twice gain credibility among voters. Roy Moore was first removed as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court because he refused to follow a Federal Order requiring him to remove a 10 Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court building. More recently, Roy Moore was elected as Chief Justice again only to be placed on permanent leave shortly into the term for writing an order directing Probate Judges in the state to disregard the US Supreme Court’s ruling allowing gay marriage. Roy Moore has thus been rewarded with the loyalty of the most

• Amy Yurkanin, AL.com (June 9, 2017):

"Moore leads the Republican field in name recognition. For two decades, he has waged a high-profile campaign against the federal courts—twice defying orders from U.S. judges. His actions have turned him into a polarizing figure, admired by some as a righteous defender of Constitutional and Christian principles and condemned by others as a dogmatic lawbreaker who doesn't recognize federal authority. Moore calls himself a 'statesman.' Many of his supporters treat him like a celebrity—posing for pictures and asking for autographs."

The Trump effect

• Alex Seitz-Wald, NBC News (July 17, 2017):

"Incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the seat temporarily in February, called Trump’s election a 'Biblical miracle.' Roy Moore, the twice-elected, twice-deposed Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, said, 'God…sent Donald Trump in there.' ... You would think every candidate were his best friend, based on how they are talking about the president,' said Montgomery-based Republican pollster Brent Buchanan. 'And every time the media talks about Donald Trump and Russia, Republican voters become stronger Trump supporters.' ... The tenor of the campaign has led even some Republicans to chafe that the contest has turned into caricature of Southern conservatives interested only in 'God, guns, and Trump' as Quin Hillyer, a longtime conservative commentator based in Mobile, put it."

• Jeremy Beaman, Washington Examiner (June 20, 2017):

"Luther Strange — the former state attorney general who was appointed to the seat — has six 'issue' pages on his campaign website, including immigration and Obamacare repeal. One issue page is titled Supporting President Trump' and another 'Draining the Swamp.' ... Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, known as the 'Ten Commandments judge,' is another leading candidate using President Trump as a campaign tool, though in a different manner. Moore is pitching himself as an even more out-of-the-box politician than Trump: 'Imagine a candidate for the U.S. Senate who is more anti-establishment than Trump and has been proving it for more than 20 years as a judge and even chief justice of his state's Supreme Court,' Moore writes on Facebook. 'You don't have to imagine such a scenario, because it's true,' he says, referring to himself."

Flipping the seat

• Cameron Joseph, Talking Points Memo (August 22, 2017):

"In deep red Alabama, some Republicans quietly worry that hardline religious conservative Roy Moore (R), the first-place finisher in the GOP’s primary, could give Democrats a tiny glimmer of hope for a win if he defeats appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in next month’s primary runoff."

• John Sharp, AL.com (June 30, 2017):

"Eight Democrats running for Alabama's Senate seat believe the Republican alternatives to 'repeal and replace' of the Affordable Care Act could cause thousands of state residents to lose their health coverage. And they believe the GOP's plans, unpopular in national polling, will give their party a political opportunity to make a contest out of an election few pundits expect them to have any chance at winning. Alabama hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in more than a decade. Alabama Republican leaders, however, believe voters in this deep red state will reject Democratic attempts to push back against the GOP's reform efforts on Obamacare."

History of U.S. Senate elections in Alabama (1986-2016)

Highlights

• The last time an incumbent senator lost an election was in 1986 when Jeremiah Denton (R) lost to Richard Shelby (D).
• Prior to the 2017 Republican primary runoff, the last time an Alabama Senate primary went to a runoff was in 2002.
• The average margin of victory in Senate general elections from 1986 to 2016 was 22.65 percent, and the median margin of victory was 26.7 percent.
• The last Senate race in Alabama won by a Democratic candidate was in 1992 when Richard Shelby (D) defeated Richard Sellers (R). Shelby went on to change his party affiliation to the Republican Party in 1994.

Victory margins

The chart below displays the margins of victory between the Democratic and Republican nominees in each Alabama Senate general election from 1986 to 2016.

In the tables below you may view election results from every United States Senate election in Alabama dating back to 1986.

2016

See also: United States Senate election in Alabama, 2016

General election

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	64%	1,335,104
	Democratic	Ron Crumpton	35.9%	748,709
	N/A	Write-in	0.2%	3,631
Total Votes				2,087,444
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk, "Election Statistics," accessed August 28, 2017

Democratic primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ron Crumpton	56.1%	153,897
Charles Nana	43.9%	120,526
Total Votes		274,423
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

Republican primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Richard Shelby Incumbent	64.9%	505,586
Jonathan McConnell	27.6%	214,770
John Martin	3%	23,558
Marcus Bowman	2.5%	19,707
Shadrack McGill	2%	15,230
Total Votes		778,851
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

2014

See also: United States Senate elections in Alabama, 2014

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions (Incumbent)	97.3%	795,606
	N/A	Write-in	2.7%	22,484
Total Votes				818,090
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk, "Election Statistics," accessed August 28, 2017

2010

General election

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	65.2%	968,181
	Democratic	William G. Barnes	34.7%	515,619
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	1,699
Total Votes				1,485,499
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk, "Election Statistics," accessed August 28, 2017

Democratic primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	William G. Barnes	60.8%	160,993
	Democratic	Simone D. De Moore	39.2%	103,942
Total Votes				264,935
Source: Federal Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed August 29, 2017

Republican primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Primary Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	84.4%	405,398
	Republican	N.C. Moser	15.6%	75,190
Total Votes				480,588
Source: Federal Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed August 29, 2017

2008

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions (Incumbent)	63.4%	1,305,383
	Democratic	Vivian Figures	36.5%	752,391
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	2,417
Total Votes				2,060,191
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk, "Election Statistics," accessed August 28, 2017

Democratic primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Vivian Figures	63.7%	112,074
	Democratic	Johnny Swanson III	22%	38,757
	Democratic	Mark Townsend	14.2%	25,058
Total Votes				175,889
Source: Federal Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed August 29, 2017

Republican primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Primary Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions (Incumbent)	92.3%	199,690
	Republican	Earl Mack Gavin	7.7%	16,718
Total Votes				216,408
Source: Federal Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed August 29, 2017

2004

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	67.5%	1,242,200
	Democratic	Wayne Sowell	32.4%	595,018
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	1,848
Total Votes				1,839,066
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk, "Election Statistics," accessed August 28, 2017

Democratic and Republican primaries

Both Richard Shelby and Wayne Sowell were unopposed on their respective party's primary ballots.

2002

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions (Incumbent)	58.6%	792,561
	Democratic	Susan Parker	39.8%	538,878
	Libertarian	Jeff Allen	1.5%	20,234
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	1,350
Total Votes				1,353,023
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk, "Election Statistics," accessed August 28, 2017

Democratic runoff

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary Runoff Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Susan Parker	65.1%	176,582
	Democratic	Julian McPhillips	34.9%	94,614
Total Votes				271,196
Source: Federal Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed August 29, 2017

Democratic primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Susan Parker	48%	190,978
	Democratic	Julian McPhillips	42.8%	170,222
	Democratic	Wayne Sowell	9.2%	36,719
Total Votes				397,919
Source: Federal Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed August 29, 2017

Republican primary

Jeff Sessions was the only Republican to file for this race.

1998

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	63.2%	817,973
	Democratic	Clayton Suddith	36.7%	474,568
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	864
Total Votes				1,293,405

Primaries

No Democratic or Republican primary was necessary because Shelby and Suddith were the only two candidates who filed to run in the race.

1996

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions	52.8%	786,436
	Democratic	Roger Beford	45.7%	681,651
	Libertarian	Mark Thornton	1.4%	21,550
	N/A	Write-in	0%	633
Total Votes				1,490,270

Democratic primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Roger Bedford	44.8%	141,360
	Democratic	Glenn Browder	28.9%	91,203
	Democratic	Natalie Davis	22.7%	71,588
	Democratic	Marilyn Quarles Bromberg	3.7%	11,573
Total Votes				315,724

Republican runoff

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Primary Runoff Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions	59.3%	81,622
	Republican	Sid McDonald	40.7%	56,131
Total Votes				137,753

Republican primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Primary Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions	37.5%	80,694
	Republican	Sid McDonald	22%	47,200
	Republican	Charles Woods	11.1%	23,793
	Republican	Frank McRight	10.2%	21,818
	Republican	Walter D. Clark	8.6%	18,513
	Republican	Jimmy Blake	7.1%	15,305
	Republican	Albert Lipscomb	3.5%	7,600
Total Votes				214,923

1992

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Richard Shelby	64.8%	1,022,698
	Republican	Richard Sellers	33.1%	522,015
	Libertarian	Jerome Shockley	2%	31,811
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	1,275
Total Votes				1,577,799

Democratic and Republican primaries

No primaries for either party were held due to lack of opposition.

1990

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Howell Heflin	60.6%	717,814
	Republican	William J. Cabaniss	39.4%	467,190
	N/A	Write-in	0%	150
Total Votes				1,185,154

Democratic and Republican primaries

No primaries for either party were held due to lack of opposition.

1986

General results

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Richard Shelby	50.3%	609,360
	Republican	Jeremiah Denton (Incumbent)	49.7%	602,537
Total Votes				1,211,897

Democratic primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary Election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Richard Shelby	51.3%	420,155
	Democratic	Jim Allen, Jr.	34.7%	284,206
	Democratic	Ted McLaughlin	8.6%	70,784
	Democratic	Margaret E. Stewart	3.3%	26,723
	Democratic	Steve Arnold	2%	16,722
Total Votes				818,590

Republican primary

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Primary Election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeremiah Denton (Incumbent)	88.5%	29,805
	Republican	Richard Vickers	11.5%	3,854
Total Votes				33,659

See also

• Special elections to the 115th United States Congress (2017-2018)
• Timeline of United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017
• United States Senate
• Jeff Sessions

External links

• Alabama Secretary of State
• FEC: Alabama, U.S. Senate (2017-2018)
• Judge Roy Moore for Senate
  • Roy Moore on YouTube
• Strange for Senate
  • Luther Strange on YouTube
• AL.com: Alabama Senate race: Your questions answered

Footnotes

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Alabama's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Katie Britt (R)

Tommy Tuberville (R)

Representatives

District 1

Barry Moore (R)

District 2

Shomari Figures (D)

District 3

Mike Rogers (R)

District 4

Robert Aderholt (R)

District 5

Dale Strong (R)

District 6

Gary Palmer (R)

District 7

Terri Sewell (D)

Republican Party (7)

Democratic Party (2)