AP

After what was one of the most contentious and nauseating political campaigns in recent political history, Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated alleged pedophile and confirmed bigot Roy Moore to represent Alabama in the Senate.




Jones’s victory comes after months of intense campaigning, much of which was overshadowed by the shocking allegations that Moore—a fundamentalist bigot who would have been be a horrific senator even if his personal life was spotless—was a serial sexual predator who targeted underage girls, some as young as 14 years old.


Despite the accusations, President Donald Trump threw the full weight of the White House behind Moore, tweeting as recently as Tuesday morning that “Roy Moore will always vote with us.”

While Senate Republicans briefly flirted with abandoning Moore following the extremely credible charges of pedophilia made against him by multiple women, the Republican National Committee ultimately followed the president’s lead and resumed funding the Moore campaign in the waning days of the race.

Jones claimed victory in a succinct tweet shortly after the race was called. Moore has yet to concede and it’s unclear if he will contest the results.


Consider this a bullet firmly dodged.



Update, 11:17 PM: During his acceptance speech, Jones hailed his victory as an example of unity in an increasingly divided political landscape. “We have shown, not just around the state of Alabama, but we have shown the country the way that we can be unified,” he said.


Donald Trump also penned an uncharacteristically tame tweet congratulating Jones on his victory:


However subdued Trump’s tweet sounds, he still hints at the possibility of voter fraud by suggesting “write-in votes” were crucial to Jones’s victory.

This is a developing story and will be updated.