4 Takeaways From Doug Jones’s Alabama Victory
- 6 years ago
4 Takeaways From Doug Jones’s Alabama Victory
“They colluded with the Democrats to undermine a pro-Trump candidate like Judge Moore just like they are going to try to do
that in 2018 to myself and other pro-Trump candidates,” said Corey Stewart, who is challenging Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and attended Mr. Moore’s election night party.
“Not only did Steve Bannon cost us a critical Senate seat in one of the most Republican states in the country,
but he also dragged the president of the United States into his fiasco,” said Steven Law, who runs a “super PAC” controlled by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader.
Immediately after Mr. Jones’s victory, establishment-aligned Republicans in Washington were assailing Mr. Moore
and Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, as having handed a Senate seat in the reddest of red states to the Democrats.
In Jefferson County, home to Birmingham and its whiter suburbs, turnout exceeded the 2014 governor’s race by about 30 percent,
and Mr. Jones nearly matched Hillary Clinton’s vote total there.
If Republican candidates facing well-off voters next year do not find a way to separate
themselves from the president, they will face a punishing midterm election next year.
“They colluded with the Democrats to undermine a pro-Trump candidate like Judge Moore just like they are going to try to do
that in 2018 to myself and other pro-Trump candidates,” said Corey Stewart, who is challenging Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and attended Mr. Moore’s election night party.
“Not only did Steve Bannon cost us a critical Senate seat in one of the most Republican states in the country,
but he also dragged the president of the United States into his fiasco,” said Steven Law, who runs a “super PAC” controlled by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader.
Immediately after Mr. Jones’s victory, establishment-aligned Republicans in Washington were assailing Mr. Moore
and Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, as having handed a Senate seat in the reddest of red states to the Democrats.
In Jefferson County, home to Birmingham and its whiter suburbs, turnout exceeded the 2014 governor’s race by about 30 percent,
and Mr. Jones nearly matched Hillary Clinton’s vote total there.
If Republican candidates facing well-off voters next year do not find a way to separate
themselves from the president, they will face a punishing midterm election next year.