Alabama: Jones Wins

Alabama voters went to the polls yesterday and chose Democrat Doug Jones as the state’s new Senator.  He defeated Republican former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore by a 49.9 – 48.4% margin, a spread of slightly more than 20,000 votes.  The result defied most of the polling, though the
final Monmouth University survey released yesterday that forecast a 46-46% proved to be the most accurate.  Judge Moore failed to solidify enough of the Republican vote, unable to attract normal GOP margins in key suburban counties around Alabama’s most populous metropolitan areas.  Turnout was very high, exceeding 1.34 million voters.  To put this special election vote into context, the last statewide vote for Governor (2014) drew 1.18 million participants.  The 2016 general election recorded over 2.123 million votes. 
 
Mr. Jones will serve through 2020, and is eligible to run for a full six-year term at that time.  The Senate partisan division now drops to 51R-49D.   The outcome here serves as a gateway to the 2018 election and gives the Democrats a path to obtaining the Senate majority next year, something that didn’t exist before Alabama.

--Jim Ellis