Arthur J. Villasanta – Fourth Estate Contributor
Montgomery, AL, United States (4E) – Dark horse candidate Democrat Doug Jones gained the particular senate election in Alabama, edging previous controversial Republican candidate Roy Moore who was deserted by evangelical voters aghast on the allegations of relentless sexual misconduct in opposition to teenage women by the GOP candidate.
With 99 p.c of the vote counted as of the early morning of Dec. 13, Jones had 673,236 votes whereas Moore had 652,300 — a distinction of 20,936 votes or 1.5 share factors That quantity, nonetheless, is fewer than the 22,780 write-in votes .
This implies that theoretically, Moore may have appeared as a write-in candidate on sufficient ballots to win — if virtually all of those write-ins voted for him.
Jones was declared the winner by the most important information organizations comparable to CNN, ABC, NBC and Fox News.
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill stated it is “highly unlikely” the end result of the race will change.
“There’s not a whole lot of errors that occur,” he stated.
The Alabama GOP launched an announcement acknowledging Jones’ obvious win, saying that “while we are deeply disappointed … we respect the voting process given to us by our Founding Fathers.”
Moore, nonetheless, has ungraciously refused to concede defeat and has known as for a recount. Under Alabama electoral legal guidelines, a recount can solely be held if the distinction in votes is inside zero.5 p.c or half a share level.
Jones beat Moore because of a number of key teams. Stronger than anticipated turnout — particularly from African-Americans — helped Jones overcome the state’s conservative bent. Jones is the primary Democrat to win as a senator in Alabama in 25 years.
Jones bought help from 96 p.c of black voters; 57 p.c of ladies; 74 p.c of moderates and 61 p.c of these underneath 45 years of age in Alabama, a Deep Red conservative state with an extended historical past of racism and racism-related violence in opposition to African-Americans and different minorities.
Moore overwhelmingly gained the evangelical vote (80 p.c to 18 p.c), however political pundits within the state stated the turnout amongst evangelicals was notably poor. Pundits identified that not one main evangelical chief in Alabama endorsed Moore, and that as an alternative of voting for him or voting Democrat, many evangelicals did not vote in any respect.
Exit polling additionally confirmed that 52 p.c of voters total stated the allegations of sexual misconduct in opposition to Moore had been undoubtedly or in all probability true. These voters voted for Jones by a 81 level margin (89 p.c to eight p.c, respectively).
Trump congratulated Jones on his obvious win
An ecstatic Jones stated his victory was one for justice and morality.
“At the end of the day, this entire race has been about dignity and respect,” stated Jones.
“This campaign has been about the rule of law. This campaign has been about common courtesy and decency and making sure everyone in this state, regardless of which zip code you live in, is gonna get a fair shake in life.”
Jones vowed to construct bipartisan bridges in Washington and Alabama alike in his victory evening speech on Tuesday.
“I have always believed that the people of Alabama have more in common than divides us,” stated Jones. “We have shown the country the way that we can be unified.”
Jones thanked volunteers and praised their efforts to get out the vote. This huge effort included 300,000 door knocks and 1.2 million cellphone calls.
In explicit, Jones thanked minority voters who got here out in historic numbers to help his candidacy.
Jones’ victory means the U.S. Senate now has 49 Democrats in opposition to 51 Republicans, a ratio that spells hassle for Trump’s agenda, and units the stage for a powerful Democratic exhibiting within the November 2018 mid-term elections.
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