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Voters finally lined up and voted across Alabama on Tuesday after a scandal-stained Senate election campaign that tested the limits of party loyalty in the age of President Donald Trump and - win or lose - promised significant political consequences for Republicans everywhere. At the center of the special election was fiery Christian conservative Roy Moore - "Judge Moore" to his supporters.
Alabama voters headed to the polls Tuesday for a pivotal special election in which allegations of inappropriate behavior against Republican candidate Roy Moore have created a unique opportunity for Democrats in the typically ruby-red Deep South. The closely watched race between Moore and Democrat Doug Jones is expected to set the stage for the 2018 midterm elections by testing the influence of President Donald Trump and his allies, such as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, in a tight election.
Alabama's top election official estimates that turnout for the hotly contested U.S. Senate election now underway will likely be around 18 to 20 percent of registered voters. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill tells The Associated Press there's also a chance that turnout for the special election could be as high as 25 percent.
Depending on who is making the case, Alabama's special Senate election Tuesday is about either continuing the "Trump miracle" in Washington or allowing "decency" to prevail back home. At the center is Roy Moore - "Judge Moore," to his supporters.
Depending on who is making the case, Alabama's special Senate election Tuesday is about either continuing the "Trump miracle" in Washington or allowing "decency" to prevail back home. At the center is Roy Moore - "Judge Moore," to his supporters.
Doug Jones and his wife Louise, right, step on stage during an election-night party Tuesday, in Birmingham, Ala. Jones not only won election to the U.S. Senate on Dec. 12; it was also his and his wife's wedding anniversary.
Alabama's U.S. Senate campaign entered its last day Monday with the candidates making final appeals for votes and a war of robocalls between President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama. There was a flurry of bogus news as well.
Alabama Democrats see Tuesday's special Senate election as a chance to renounce a history littered with politicians whose race-baiting, bombast and other baggage have long soiled the state's reputation beyond its borders. Many Republicans see the vote as chance to ratify their conservative values and protect President Donald Trump's agenda ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
The Senate election in Alabama on Tuesday is not just about the choice between Doug Jones and Roy Moore. It's also about a voter suppression campaign that may well sway the result of a close race.
Doug Jones has been elected to the U.S. Senate. The Associated Press called it shortly before 9:30 p.m. "We have shown not just around the state of Alabama, but we have shown the country the way - that we can be unified," Jones said at his campaign headquarters in Birmingham.
Former professional basketball star Charles Barkley says Alabama voters must send Democrat Doug Jones to the Senate to assure the rest of the nation "we're not a bunch of damn idiots." An Alabama native, Barkley says Republican Roy Moore would continue to embarrass a state that has a history of politicians garnering negative attention.
Alabama's high-stakes Senate election Tuesday perfectly encapsulates how the age of Donald Trump has turned political logic on its head: Republicans may lose by winning and Democrats can win by losing. Republican Roy Moore denies accusations of child molestation, but he's riding the President's endorsement.
The race to the finish for Alabama's special Senate election was a tale of two campaigns on Sunday, with Democratic candidate Doug Jones barnstorming the state while his Republican opponent, Roy Moore, largely stayed quiet. Jones capped a busy day with remarks at Progressive Union Missionary Baptist Church in Huntsville, saying he believed the women who have accused Moore of pursuing relationships when they were teens and he was in his 30s.
President Donald Trump on Friday urged voters to elect a Republican Senate candidate in Alabama who has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct, warning that America "cannot afford" to have a Democrat win the hard-fought campaign instead. When Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama came hat in hand to Capitol Hill last month to ask his state's senior Republican for help raising money, Sen. Richard C. Shelby had a blunt reply.
Congress has given themselves a little more breathing room to get through their 2017 to-do list, passing a continuing resolution Thursday on a spending bill that gives them two more weeks to get a final budget to the President's desk. Budget negotiations will continue behind the scenes, and although no resolution is expected this week, those involved want a clear outline for the final deal locked in before lawmakers go home for the weekend.
Alabama's race for U.S. Senate settled into church for worship on Sunday, with the minister at a historic black congregation calling the race a life-or-death matter for equal rights, conservatives standing by Republican Roy Moore and others feeling unsettled in the middle. Speaking at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, where four black girls died in a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1963, the Rev.