Jones’ campaign effort shouldn’t be discounted, either. Slobodchikoff said Jones ran a near perfect campaign, making few errors and turning out exactly the voters he needed to win.

Although conventional wisdom says that Democrats will have a hard time replicating Tuesday’s success, Houston County Democratic Party Chairman Ed Vaughn sees Jones’ election as a chance to prove to Alabamians that Democrats can deliver. Vaughn admits that Democrats face an uphill battle in the state, but Tuesday’s election shows that the advantage Republicans have is not insurmountable.

“We knew it could happen if we got out the vote,” he said.

Vaughn said Democrats need to take the lessons learned about organizing and motivating to heart in future elections. They also need to represent the interests of the coalition of African Americans, young voters, and disaffected Republicans that pushed Jones to victory.

Vaughn said to succeed in Alabama, Democrats need to calibrate their policy positions to appeal to the more conservative preferences of Alabama voters. They also need to make the case that one-party government by Republicans has facilitated corruption and bad policy.