Politicians React After Roy Moore Defeat In Alabama
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The final numbers are in and with more than 20,000 votes separating them embattled Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore has been defeated by Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama.
Tuesday night Moore refused to concede and told his supporters, "Part of the problem with this campaign is we've been painted in an unfavorable and unfaithful light. We've been put in a hole, if you will."
According to Alabama law, a recount is required if the margin of victory is less than one-half of one percentage point, but Jones led by 1.5 points — three times that margin.
Moore is accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with teenagers and sexually harassing or assaulting several women. Moore has denied the allegations.
Jones gave Alabama its first Democratic Senate victory in a quarter-century, thanks to votes by African-Americans, liberal whites and moderate Republicans. Some 38-percent of the state's registered voters turned out at the polls.
President Trump, who did and still supports Moore, was quick to congratulate Doug Jones Tuesday night and tweeted that a "win is a win." As people across the country began to weigh in this morning Trump continued tweeting, explaining why he had backed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in the GOP primary.
Leading up to Election Day former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden rallied voters for Jones. This morning Biden also took to Twitter to thank voters in Alabama.
Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, one of the moderate Republican lawmakers who supported Jones, had a short and direct message, he tweeted two words – "Decency wins".
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is trending on Twitter in North Texas this morning with many speculating if Democrats could score an upset for his seat in 2018. Texas Democrat Julian Castro, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under former President Obama, issued a warning that Cruz on Twitter saying, "Be afraid @tedcruz. Be very afraid."
Some Republicans claim Moore only lost because he is an accused pedophile, but Castro went on to say that what happened to Republicans in Alabama can happen anywhere in 2018.
The victory by Jones, a former U.S. attorney best known for prosecuting two Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for Birmingham's infamous 1963 church bombing, narrows the GOP advantage in the U.S. Senate to 51-49.
