GOP/POLITICS: “Roy Moore lacks the war chest of two chief rivals in his bid to become the next senator from Alabama. He didn’t land the coveted endorsement of President Donald Trump, and doesn’t enjoy the advantages of incumbency.
Yet the controversial former state Supreme Court justice is coasting over his Republican challengers in Tuesday’s closely watched GOP Senate primary. Moore is set to easily secure a place in a September runoff, as the establishment-backed Sen. Luther Strange and Rep. Mo Brooks scrap for the second spot.
Should Moore become the GOP nominee and the next senator from Alabama, his bombastic personality and antipathy toward Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are sure to make more trouble for the GOP leader, who’s taking constant flak from Trump as it is. McConnell and his allies are spending millions to elect Strange, and in response, Moore has made McConnell the symbol of everything he opposes in Washington…
Strange was tapped in February to temporarily assume Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat after he was appointed attorney general. Strange and his supporters have spent the campaign trying to tear down Brooks, a four-term congressman and member of the Freedom Caucus, to ensure Strange slides into the runoff against Moore.
Confident they’ve succeeded against Brooks despite polls showing a close race for second place, the pro-Strange forces recently began running ads against Moore. Leading the way is the deep-pocketed Senate Leadership Fund, which has close ties to McConnell and pledged earlier this year to spend up to $10 million to prop up Strange. It plans to ramp up the attacks once the six-week sprint to a Sept. 26 runoff election begins.”
-Seung Min Kim and Rachel Bade, “The GOP rebel threatening to snag Sessions’ Senate seat,” Politico, Aug. 14, 2017 05:04am