The next senator from deep-red Alabama supports Obamacare. He favors abortion rights and same-sex marriage, and believes young immigrants brought to the country as children should be allowed to become U.S. citizens. And he opposes both President Donald Trump’s border wall and the Republican tax plan.

Doug Jones’ upset Tuesday night in Alabama’s special election will make him the first Democratic senator from the state since 1994 — and Jones’ positions show how just much the Democratic Party has changed in that time. While the last generation of Democratic senators from the Deep South were reliable conservatives on many issues, Jones figures to make progressives in the Democratic caucus quite happy once he’s sworn in.


Alabama conservatives and moderates were undoubtedly more willing than usual to overlook some of Jones’ policy positions because of the scandal engulfing Republican Roy Moore. But Jones, who faced intense criticism over his abortion stance during the campaign, resisted pressure to moderate his stance on that and other issues during the campaign.

“There are a lot of things that he has supported and espoused that ... would not be typically a part of the culture of Alabama,” said Mark Kennedy, a former Alabama Democratic Party chairman. “But it offers us a lot of hope that there can be change and that people are willing to vote for a man who promotes moving Alabama forward not just economically but also progressively.”

Jones frequently left wiggle room from national liberals during the campaign, and he promised to work across the aisle in many of his TV ads. “I'm a lot more center-of-the-road political figure,” Jones said in a post-election press conference on Wednesday. Bob Vance, a Democrat and Alabama circuit court judge who’s known Jones for years, said he expected Jones to reflect Alabama’s “home values.”

Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

“You're not going to get a Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren type clone. That's just not his make-up,” Vance said.

But there is enough for Sanders to like, and he hailed Jones' win in a statement Tuesday night.

“Congratulations to Doug Jones for his great victory. Congratulations to the people of Alabama for doing what few thought they would do,” Sanders said in the statement. “This is a victory not just for Jones and Democrats. It is a victory for justice and decency. "

While Jones has a moderate temperament and deal-making public persona, he has yet to stray far from Democratic orthodoxy on policy, with the exception of guns — Jones called himself a strong Second Amendment supporter during the campaign.

On immigration, Jones told the Montgomery Advertiser he supports “maintaining the integrity of our borders against all threats.” But he also supports a pathway to citizenship for so-called “Dreamers,” like other Senate Democrats. On health care, Jones said he wasn’t “there yet” on backing a single-payer health care system. But Jones openly backed Obamacare and opposed Republican proposals to slash Medicaid. And he focused on the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a point he repeated in his victory speech Tuesday night.

“Take this opportunity, in light of this election, and go ahead and fund that CHIP program before I get up there,” Jones said Tuesday night. “Put it aside and let’s do it for those million kids and 150,000 here in Birmingham.”

On some key social issues, Jones left little daylight between himself and future Democratic colleagues from deep-blue states. Jones supports same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, and he spoke proudly during the campaign of refusing to moderate his position in favor of abortion rights, a favorite target of attack from Moore’s campaign, which charged that Jones supported abortions at any point during a pregnancy.

“He’s not for late-term abortion or all that crap that the [Republicans] were trying to pin on him,” said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who added that he doubted Jones would shift in a more moderate direction as a senator.

Jones has expressed optimism about building relationships with Republicans in Washington. The Democrat said Wednesday his first congratulatory call the night before came from appointed Republican Sen. Luther Strange, and Jones said he also appreciated a “very gracious call” from President Donald Trump.

But he will not be the same reliable conservative vote that Strange was, despite calls from Republicans like National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Cory Gardner. Gardner said in a statement that he hopes Jones “will do the right thing and truly represent Alabama by choosing to vote with the Senate Republican majority.”

Fresh off a win in a heavily scrutinized campaign, Jones is not planning to change his tune, said Giles Perkins, Jones’ campaign chairman.

“He’s going up [to Washington] with an open mind and figure out what’s best for Alabama,” Perkins said. “I think in the campaign Doug stuck to his principles and what he believes, and we’re proud that that was successful and he’s not going to be a different guy than he was during the campaign.”