AP, Montgomery :
Firebrand jurist Roy Moore won the Alabama Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating an appointed incumbent backed by both President Donald Trump and deep-pocketed allies of Sen. Mitch McConnell.
In an upset certain to rock the GOP establishment, Moore clinched a nine-point victory over Sen. Luther Strange to take the GOP nomination for the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Moore will face Democrat Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election.
It was a political resurrection for the 70-year-old former Alabama chief justice who was twice removed from those duties after taking stands for public display of the Ten Commandments and against gay marriage. Moore, in his victory speech, returned to themes of God and government, saying that he had “never prayed to win this campaign” but only that’s “God’s will be done.”
“We have to return the knowledge of God and the Constitution of the United States to the United States Congress,” Moore told a cheering crowd in his victory party in Montgomery.
Moore predicted the race could be a bellwether for the 2018 midterms, saying the victory tells the establishment in “Washington, D.C., that their wall has been cracked and will now fall.”
The race has pitted Trump against his former strategist Steve Bannon who had argued Moore was a better fit for the “populist” movement. Introducing Moore, Bannon told a frenzied crowd that the victory was a repudiation of the “fat cats” of Washington who pumped millions into the Alabama race to boost Strange.
Bannon declared Moore’s win a victory for Trump, despite the president’s support for Strange. Moore said he supports the president and his agenda.
After the race, Trump tweeted his congratulations to Moore, noting that “Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race.”
Firebrand jurist Roy Moore won the Alabama Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating an appointed incumbent backed by both President Donald Trump and deep-pocketed allies of Sen. Mitch McConnell.
In an upset certain to rock the GOP establishment, Moore clinched a nine-point victory over Sen. Luther Strange to take the GOP nomination for the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Moore will face Democrat Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election.
It was a political resurrection for the 70-year-old former Alabama chief justice who was twice removed from those duties after taking stands for public display of the Ten Commandments and against gay marriage. Moore, in his victory speech, returned to themes of God and government, saying that he had “never prayed to win this campaign” but only that’s “God’s will be done.”
“We have to return the knowledge of God and the Constitution of the United States to the United States Congress,” Moore told a cheering crowd in his victory party in Montgomery.
Moore predicted the race could be a bellwether for the 2018 midterms, saying the victory tells the establishment in “Washington, D.C., that their wall has been cracked and will now fall.”
The race has pitted Trump against his former strategist Steve Bannon who had argued Moore was a better fit for the “populist” movement. Introducing Moore, Bannon told a frenzied crowd that the victory was a repudiation of the “fat cats” of Washington who pumped millions into the Alabama race to boost Strange.
Bannon declared Moore’s win a victory for Trump, despite the president’s support for Strange. Moore said he supports the president and his agenda.
After the race, Trump tweeted his congratulations to Moore, noting that “Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race.”
