Republican Tommy Tuberville unseated incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama Tuesday night, with a crushing 25-point lead when 66 percent of the votes were reported.
Thank you, ALABAMA! We’ve got our United States Senate seat back! #MAGA #ALSen https://t.co/EqHMcFjMOp
— Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) November 4, 2020
The win is crucial to Republicans seeking a majority in the Senate. Jones’ seat was considered one of the most vulnerable by Democrats.
Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, said during his victory speech, “I’ll be guided by conservative values and vote for a majority of the people of the state of Alabama.”
On the campaign trail, the coach promised to “stand with President Trump,” presenting himself as a close ally of the president, and eventually won the president’s endorsement. Tuberville ferociously attacked Jones for voting to convict Trump during the Senate’s impeachment trial.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237557409943416834?s=20
Jones won in a 2017 special election, filling the seat Jeff Sessions left vacant to serve as U.S. attorney general. Jones defeated Republican Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore in December of that year. Jones was the first Democrat to be elected a U.S. senator in Alabama since 1997.
While Jones has done his best to position himself as a centrist Democrat, he voted against the recent confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
