Allies of the controversial candidate were quick to call out the Republican establishment, while Democrats declared the victory a triumph of ‘decency’

The Democrats’ win in Alabama over Republican Roy Moore provoked reaction from jubilant Democrats, somber Republicans looking to point fingers, and a surprisingly gracious Donald Trump.

Shortly after Doug Jones’s shock victory over Moore in a special election for US senate, the president, who had gone out of his way to endorse Moore, posted: “Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!”

Besides Trump, other Moore allies were less enthusiastic about the result and cast the blame on the Republican establishment. Andy Surabian, a Bannon ally and chief strategist for the Great America Alliance Super Pac told the Guardian: “By doing everything in their power to defy the president and throw this race to a liberal Democrat, [senator majority leader Mitch] McConnell and his allies just ignited a firestorm with the grassroots.”

Profile Who is Doug Jones? Show Hide Early life The 63-year-old grew up in the working-class city of Fairfield, just west of Birmingham, an area once dominated by the steel industry. His father was a steelworker and he spent time working in a mill when not in school Democratic roots and the KKK Jones got his start in government as an aide to the last Democrat to serve a full term in the Senate from Alabama, the late Howell Heflin. Years before running for the Senate himself, Jones became known for prosecuting two KKK members for the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist church in 1963 which killed four black girls. After his appointment as US attorney in Birmingham in 1997, Jones led a team of federal and state attorneys during trials that resulted in the convictions of Thomas Blanton Jr in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry in 2002. Photograph: Marvin Gentry/X02859

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Corey Stewart, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for US Senate in Virginia in 2018, who had come to Alabama to campaign for Moore’s, said: “The Republican establishment got exactly what it wanted. It wanted to defeat a pro-Trump candidate like Judge Moore.”

Among the Republicans repelled by the allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore, there was a sense of relief. Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona who had donated to Jones, simply tweeted: “decency wins.”

Others used the result as an opportunity to take shots at former White House strategist Steve Bannon who had ardently backed Moore. Steven Law, the chair of the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super Pac closely allied with McConnell said in a statement: “Not only did Steve Bannon cost us a critical Senate seat in one of the most Republican states in the country, but he also dragged the President of the United States into his fiasco.”

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Conservative pundit Meghan McCain, the daughter of John McCain, wrote on Twitter: “Suck it, Bannon.”

Democrats were obviously elated. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer crowed that Doug Jones would be an outstanding Senator who would represent Alabama well, saying: “He was a great candidate and will be an even better Senator.”

Senator Bernie Sanders echoed his colleague in a statement: “Congratulations to the people of Alabama for doing what few thought they would do. This is a victory not just for Jones and Democrats. It is a victory for justice and decency.”

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Of course, some did not miss the opportunity to taunt the president and the Republican party. Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania mocked Trump for creating the vacancy by appointing Jeff Sessions to the Senate in a tweet: “Hey @realDonaldTrump – So how’s picking Jeff Sessions to be your Attorney General working out for you?”.

Tom Perez, the chair of the DNC, said in a statement: “Alabama voters didn’t just reject Roy Moore, they embraced Doug Jones and the Democratic party’s vision for a brighter future. They joined millions of voters across the country who are standing up to Donald Trump and the GOP’s radical agenda by making their voices heard and electing Democrats up and down the ballot.”

Perez went on to take a shot at the national Republican party for embracing Moore.

“While Republican leaders embrace accused child molesters like Roy Moore for their own political gain, Democrats will keep fighting for working families and for what is right because we are the party of the people.”