Democrat wins seat in blow to Trump
Democrat Jones pulls off a stunning win in a republican strongholD
In backing Roy Moore in Alabama’s US Senate race even though the candidate faced allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls, President Donald Trump made a risky bet - and lost big.
The victory by Democrat Doug Jones over the Republican Moore in the Alabama special election on Tuesday was a catastrophe for Trump, portending a Democratic wave next year that could cost Republicans control of one or both houses of Congress.
The stakes in Alabama were that high. Democrats already were confident they had a strong chance to retake the US House of Representatives in next year’s congressional elections. Jones’ narrow victory increases their once-long odds of retaking control of the Senate as well.
If Democrats were to recapture both chambers, they would serve as a check on Trump’s agenda and might even initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
“That Republicans lost in one of the most Republican states in the nation is a wake-up call no matter how flawed their candidate was,” said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Democrats never expected to have a chance in Alabama, where they had not won a US Senate race in 25 years. But the combination of Trump’s unpopularity, the sexual misconduct allegations that erupted against Moore in November, and Trump’s enthusiastic support of him anyway gave them the opportunity, experts said.
“Trump was the one who got Jones within firing range, and Moore allowed Jones to win,” said Kyle Kondik, a political analyst at the University of Virginia.
Even as Democrats lost several special congressional elections this year, they consistently showed higher levels of turnout and engagement, which is attributable to Trump, Kondik said.
The Alabama race showed there were limits both to Trump’s endorsement power and his judgment.
Even as senior Republicans urged Trump to abandon Moore, the president decided instead in the campaign’s final days to throw the full weight of his office behind him.
Moreover, despite the sexual misconduct allegations against Moore, the race near the end increasingly seemed to become about the president. Moore’s camp this week said the contest was specifically a referendum on Trump and his presidency.
“It is Donald Trump on trial in Alabama,” Dean Young, a strategist for Moore, told ABC News.
Trump congratulated Jones on Twitter “on a hard fought victory” and added: “Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time.” —