DEMS/GOP/POLITICS: “Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama on Tuesday [12-12-17] scored an upset win in a deeply Republican state, capturing the U.S. Senate seat here in a special election that drove a wedge within the Republican party and gave Democrats another burst of momentum ahead of the 2018 midterm races.
The result was a defeat for President Donald Trump, who had endorsed Republican Roy Moore, and for his former White House strategist, Steve Bannon, who had made this the first major test of his strategy of supporting antiestablishment candidates to challenge the GOP old guard…
Mr. Jones pulled off his win due to high turnout by black Democratic voters and suburban Republicans who were put off by the Moore campaign travails. The sexual-misconduct allegations, which Mr. Moore denied, also seemed to create a drag for the Republican as turnout dipped in the largely white, rural counties that Republicans have counted on as a large part of their base.
The vote was close enough that Mr. Moore refused to concede, saying that there may be a recount required if, when the vote is certified, the margin of victory is less than one-half of one percentage point. With 99% of the vote tallied on Tuesday, Mr. Jones held a lead of 1.5%—well outside of the range of a mandatory recount.”
-Janet Hook and Joshua Jamerson, “Democrat Doug Jones Beats Roy Moore to Win Alabama Senate Seat,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 13, 2017 08:14am