Sen. Jones, who won his seat in an upset 2017 special election, has been ousted by Tommy Tuberville, a former football coach and devout Trump fan.
LaunchA word cloud summarizing Doug Jones’ victory
A word cloud summarizing Doug Jones’ victory, created by NPI using Wordle
LaunchWhy no one can foretell what will likely happen in Alabama
“Today’s special election is forcing pollsters to confront just about every major challenge in survey research,” writes Nate Cohn.
LaunchExtremist Alabama Republican Roy Moore a sexual predator? Woman says Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32
Extremist Alabama Republican Roy Moore a sexual predator? Woman says Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32
LaunchTrump deletes tweets after backing Alabama primary loser Luther Strange
“Alabama Senator Luther Strange is disappearing down the memory hole,” writes BBC North America reporter Anthony Zurcher. “As in George Orwell’s 1984, where politically inconvenient information is scrubbed from the records, Donald Trump is airbrushing over past support for the soon-to-be-former senator.”
LaunchIntraparty Republican warfare rages in Alabama
“Mitch McConnell is unleashing the full force of his political machine in an all-out push to stop two far-right conservatives who threaten to make his life miserable in the Senate,” reports Politico’s Alex Isenstadt.
LaunchMeet Richard Shelby, the Alabama Republican who admits he’s holding up Obama nominees so he can win reelection
The New York Times profiles the shameless Richard Shelby of Alabama, who has idled the Senate Banking Committee that he now chairs because he wants to win his Republican primary. Shelby “now has the distinction of running the only committee in the Senate that has not acted on a single nominee in this Congress,” the Times notes. By putting his own self-interest ahead of the country’s, Shelby has demonstrated (once again) that he and his party care more about winning than governing.
Launch