Alabama Senate race down to the wire
Former president, VP join Trump in taping robo-calls
National political leaders made last-minute efforts to sway voters in today’s controversial election.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — National political leaders made last-ditch efforts to woo voters in the Alabama Senate race Monday, as the candidates made their final arguments in a pivotal special election that has attracted more than $41 million in spending.
Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden recorded robo-calls for Democrat Doug Jones, while President Donald Trump recorded an appeal for Republican Roy Moore.
“If Alabama elects liberal Democrat Doug Jones, all of our progress will be stopped cold,” Trump said in his recorded message.
The stakes were high for both parties, as the outcome will likely set the stage for the 2018 midterm elections. A win in the Deep South for Democrats, the first in an Alabama Senate race since 1992, would be a rebuke to Trump and his former adviser Steve Bannon, who have promoted Moore over the objections of establishment Republicans.
A win for Moore, by contrast, could weaken the hand of mainstream Republicans, who have struggled to broaden the appeal of the party’s brand heading into the midterms.
Moore, a former state Supreme Court judge, has campaigned on a platform of opposing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a Republican who was born in Alabama, also released a statement encouraging people to vote, without naming the candidate she preferred.
“These critical times require us to come together to reject bigotry, sexism, and intolerance,” she wrote, before adding that voters should insist on leaders who “are dignified, decent, and respectful of the values we hold dear.”
On election eve, Moore called in to a conservative talk radio show in Alabama to lament the tone of the campaign and portray himself as the victim of the sexual misconduct allegations.
“We’ve seen things happen in this campaign that I can’t believe to this day,” said Moore, who has denied all wrongdoing in contacts with the women who said he behaved inappropriately when they were in their teens and he was a local prosecutor in his 30s. One said he initiated sexual contact when she was 14.
Alabama has been a solidly Republican state for years, and Moore says he is much more in tune with the issues that matter to voters — and to the president.
Jones acknowledged Monday in Montgomery, “Look, I’m not going to be the senator that everybody in the state can agree with 100 percent of the time.” But he added, “They’ll know I’m somebody that will sit down with them. I will learn from them. I will try to be the public servant I think a U.S. senator ought to be.”
Meanwhile, a Republican National Committeewoman from Nebraska, Joyce Simmons, announced that she has resigned her post in protest of her party’s continued support of Moore.
“I strongly disagree with the recent RNC financial support directed to the Alabama Republican Party for use in the Roy Moore race,” Simmons said in an email to party leaders, who were first informed Friday of her decision. “There is much I could say about this situation, but I will defer to this weekend’s comments by Senator Shelby.”
Sen. Richard Shelby, RAla., who voted for a writein candidate, said Sunday that he found Moore’s accusers to be “believable” and that Moore would not represent the state well.
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill expects only about 25 percent of eligible voters to cast a ballot in the special election, making the race difficult to predict. Three new polls released Monday showed dramatically different results, based on different projections of who would vote.
An automated poll from Emerson College showed Moore with a 9-point advantage, while a poll from Fox News showed Jones with a 10-point advantage. A Monmouth University Poll showed the race about even.
Reports of the robo-calls from Obama and Biden created some awkwardness for Jones, who has tried to project distance from the national party as he closes out his campaign. Though his campaign confirmed the calls, the candidate said he was not aware of them.
“I know that there have been a lot of robo-calls that have been recorded. I don’t know what’s being used. That is just not something I’m doing,” Jones said at a campaign stop at a local restaurant, where members of the media outnumbered customers.
A political group overseen by Biden sent out a fundraising email to supporters Monday, asking for money to help the Jones campaign.