Jones pushes to keep Alabama Senate seat; rival Tuberville’s run quiet

TROY, Ala. — Standing by a blue pickup at a rally near the birthplace of the late civil-rights icon John Lewis, Alabama Sen. Doug Jones urged voters to look at his record from his three years in office and not what he called Republican distortions about him.

“Don’t listen to the lies. … I don’t want to defund the police. I’m not taking anybody’s guns away. I’m not for federally funded abortions,” Jones said in his closing message. “Look at the record. I’ve got a record passing bipartisan legislation, working with Republicans, working with Democrats. I’ve got a record for doing things for teachers, for farmers, for our military, for Alabama.”

Considered the most endangered Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Jones is facing Republican Tommy Tuberville, who harnessed college football coaching fame and President Donald Trump’s endorsement to block former Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ attempt at a political comeback. Sessions has since appeared with Tuberville on the campaign trail.

The race in solidly proTrump Alabama will test whether Democrats can make inroads in the Deep South and if Jones’ 2017 special election win was a fluke because the GOP nominee, Roy Moore, faced a litany of sexual misconduct allegations.

The outcome of this year’s race could also have a big effect on the Senate, which Republicans currently control 53-47. While Tuberville entered the race as a strong favorite, Jones holds a 4-to-1 spending advantage and both campaigns sent out fundraising emails contending the race is tightening.

Jones has been on a campaign blitz while Tuberville has adopted a strategy akin to running out the clock. Tuberville has announced fewer public campaign events, concentrated media appearances on conservative talk radio and has refused to debate Jones.

Positioning himself as a political outsider, Tuberville’s message has been heavy on support for Trump.

In a recent ad, Tuberville said, “I’m going to stand with President Trump to finish the border wall, cut your taxes, and protect life.”

“Between Doug Jones and me, voters have the choice between a devoted liberal who embraces the D.C. swamp or a committed conservative outsider who wants to fundamentally change the way Washington operates,” Tuberville said in a statement.

Tuberville’s record as a football coach has even become campaign fodder. The former Auburn University football coach ran an ad with a former player talking about how Tuberville cared about players as people, not just athletes. Jones, meanwhile, ran a commercial saying Tuberville “quit on his players” when he abruptly changed coaching jobs multiple times.

Jones, the first Alabama Democrat elected to the Senate in a quarter-century, is trying to prove his 2017 victory was no outlier.