Moore Senate bid ends in historic loss

DEMOCRAT Doug Jones won a stunning victory in Alabama’s special Senate election yesterday in one of the reddest of red states.

In doing so he beat history, an embattled Republican opponent and President Donald Trump, who urgently endorsed GOP rebel Roy Moore despite a litany of sexual misconduct allegations.

It was the first Democratic Senate victory in a quartercentury in Alabama and proved party loyalty is anything but sure in the age of Trump.

The Republican loss was a major embarrassment for the President and a fresh wound for the nation’s already divided GOP.

“We have shown not just around the state of Alabama, but we have shown the country the way — that we can be unified,” Mr Jones declared as supporters in a Birmingham ballroom cheered, danced and cried tears of joy.

Mr Moore, meanwhile, refused to concede and raised the possibility of a recount during a brief appearance at a sombre campaign party in Montgomery.

“It’s not over,” Mr Moore said. He added, “We know that God is still in control.” From the White House, Mr Trump tweeted his congratulations to Mr Jones “on a hard-fought victory” — but added pointedly that “the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!”

Mr Jones takes over the seat previously held by Attorney- General Jeff Sessions. The term expires in January 2021.

The victory by Mr Jones, a former US lawyer best known for prosecuting two Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for Birmingham’s infamous 1963 church bombing, narrows the GOP advantage in the US Senate to 51-49.

Many Washington Republicans viewed the defeat of Mr Moore as perhaps the best outcome for the party nationally despite the short-term sting.

The fiery Christian conservative’s positions have alienated women, racial minorities, gays and Muslims — in addition to the multiple allegations that he was guilty of sexual misconduct with teens, one only 14, when he was in his 30s. Many Republicans had declined to support Mr Moore.