Alabama hasn't elected a Democrat to a statewide office in more than a decade, and the party hasn't held one of the state's two Senate seats since Howell Heflin left office in early 1997.

Pundits consider the state a safe GOP bet, where President Donald Trump won by a wider margin last November than Ronald Reagan did in the 1980s.

Political insiders believe the Senate race this summer will be decided in the Republican primary, scheduled for Aug. 15 with a runoff on Sept. 28, if needed.

"It would take a catastrophe of monumental proportions to make the November race anywhere near competitive," said William Stewart, professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama and a longtime observer of state politics.

Democrats also admit the odds are long, but they remain optimistic that with hard work and a fired-up base, they can make a competition out of the Dec. 12 general election.

That seemed to be the reaction during a fundraiser Tuesday at an upscale restaurant and bar in downtown Mobile in support of Doug Jones' candidacy.

"It's about turning out the base," said Christian Smith, a Mobile resident and president of the Bay Area Young Democrats, who are not endorsing a candidate in the primary.

Added Karlos Finley, a candidate for Mobile County circuit judge in 2018: "We have to work on getting the vote out and we need informed voters. We have to get folks out to the polls."

Alabama Democrats are in for an uphill battle. Politico Magazine featured an article last October entitled, "The Loneliness of the Alabama Democrat," that explored the frustrations of Mobile-based Democrats who admitted to not knowing many Hillary Clinton supporters.

Trump trounced Clinton in Alabama during the November election, winning by a more than 28 percent differential.

But while Trump remains popular among Alabama Republican leaders, his overall approval rating seems to be struggling nationally. The Gallup daily tracker has Trump's approval rating below 40 percent, and a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll has Trump's disapproval rating at 51 percent.

And since Trump's inauguration, progressives and Democrats have become emboldened in combating the president's agenda. In particular, they oppose Republican alternatives to the Affordable Care Act. Town hall meetings, hosted by Republican lawmakers, have been repeatedly interrupted by angry progressives who oppose the dismantling of the 2010 health care law.

This summer's Senate campaign is the first election in Alabama since Trump took office. It was made possible by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who decided in April to call for a special election for the seat currently occupied by Republican Luther Strange and formerly held by current U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Ten Republicans and eight Democrats are vying for the Senate seat.

Among the Democrats, Jones might have the most name recognition. He is best known for successfully prosecuting those responsible for the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963 that killed four girls. The prosecution took place more than 40 years after the bombing, concluding with two convictions in 2001 and 2002.

Jones also has Clinton connections, having been appointed as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama by former President Bill Clinton in 1998.

He said that Democrats in Alabama need to embrace, not run away, from Democratic ideals that "go back to (Franklin) Roosevelt and social security."

"I'm a Democrat and I will not run away from Democratic values," Jones said during a recent interview with AL.com. "I don't think government is bad. I don't care what people say. Government built our interstates, provides rural health care, provided our missile defense, and has provided help in education."

Jones said he hopes his candidacy can begin a transformation in Alabama, where the party will "field good candidates from top to bottom" on ballots in 2018. He said the recent corruption involving state Republicans will benefit Democrats.

"People in this state are not dumb," said Jones. "We have now proven that a one-party state is a disaster. Democrats didn't do a real good job of it when we were in control and Republicans have made it even worse.

He added, "I think the people in this state are looking at themselves and are saying, 'we're tired of being embarrassed.'"

Jones says he's friends with former Vice-President Joe Biden, and says that he'll reach out to Biden's camp if he wins the Democratic primary. "I just won't shy away from that," said Jones, hopeful that Biden would visit Alabama and make a campaign appearance on Jones' behalf, and that the national Democratic Party will keep an eye on the Alabama race. "If we are to have a viable two-party system in this state, we need folks like Joe who people know can come in and talk to the manufacture worker who is out of a job."

Stewart, the political science professor, predicts Jones will be the nominee. He said it gives Democrats "a good choice," but that he's unlikely to win.

"All his Republican opponent in the general election needs to do is point out his association with and support for the Clintons and cite a few portions of the most recently adopted Democratic platform," said Stewart, regarding Jones, and the fact that he'll be running in a deep red state.

Stewart and Steve Flowers, an author whose weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers, both compare this race to the 2012 election for Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice in which Republican Roy Moore defeated Democrat Bob Vance by a slim margin.

Moore, thus far, is polling among the top of GOP Senate hopefuls and could be the party's nominee against the Democrat.

"It has been shown that a Democrat can run close to Moore," said Flowers.

But Flowers, unlike Stewart, believes racial identity politics may come into play in the Democratic primary. He said that if Democrats nominate a black candidate - someone like Robert Kennedy Jr. of Prichard, who claims he's a "conservative Democrat" but who has little public profile - it might generate excitement among the state's black Democratic base.

"If they nominate a white candidate, like Doug Jones, it won't excite the base," said Flowers, a former Republican member of the Alabama State House. "If you have the African-American vote excited about the possibility of an African-American win, there could be a fluke that happens. But it's a less than 5 percent chance."

Donald Briskman, a Mobile resident and longtime Democrat was among those attending Tuesday's fundraising for Jones. He said he believes voters in Alabama will best identify with Jones, whose father was a steelworker and whose mother was a homemaker.

"Everyone says, 'A Democrat can't win,'" said Jones, during his Mobile rally. "They have no clue what's going on in the state of Alabama or know the feelings of what's going on out there."

Coming Friday: Alabama Democrats believe the unpopularity of the GOP-backed health care alternatives to Obamacare will help them politically in the state's special Senate race.