Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Doug Jones on Tuesday night pulled off a major upset over Roy Moore and became the first Democrat to win an Alabama Senate seat in a quarter century.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Jones, a former federal prosecutor who successfully led the cases against two men behind the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, was leading Moore, 50 percent to 48 percent, according to unofficial results.

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Brynn Anderson

No concession from Moore

Moore is refusing to concede the race to Jones. "Realize when vote is this close, it's not over and we still have to go by the rules," Moore told the crowd. Before Moore spoke, campaign chair Bill Armistead explained the process to trigger an automatic recount - which is a difference of less than one-half of 1 percent between the candidates.

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Mike Cason/mcason@al.com

Can a recount help Moore?

Secretary of State John Merrill said it's too soon to know whether the margin of victory in Alabama's special election on Tuesday will trigger the state's automatic recount law.

State law calls for an automatic recount in a general election if a candidate wins by not more than 0.5 percent, unless the defeated candidate submits a waiver.

Merrill said it is doubtful the outcome of the state's U.S. Senate race will change. "It would be very unlikely for that to occur," Merrill said late Tuesday.

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Roy Moore won’t concede; says will wait on God to speak. God wasn’t registered to vote in AL but the ppl who voted did speak and it wasn’t close enough for recount. In elections everyone does NOT get a trophy. I know first hand but it’s best to exit with class. — Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) December 13, 2017

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Kyle Whitmire | kwhitmire@al.com

Byrne for Senate?

U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne hinted Wednesday that he may be interested in running against Jones in 2020.

"We have an election to run next year for Congress. Then, it will be one more time to have a serious discussion on what to do in 2020," Byrne said, one day after Jones became the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama in 25 years.

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Jeremy Gray | jgray@al.com

Europeans rejoice at Moore's defeat

"In Europe, the Alabama election result was widely seen as a "notable setback for President Donald Trump," in the words of France's liberal Liberation newspaper. Its center-left competitor Le Monde declared the result a "referendum about Trump's political agenda," and Britain's Financial Times agreed that it was "a big blow for Mr Trump," The Washington Post reports.

"That sentiment was perhaps most pronounced in Germany, where confidence in Trump has been even lower than in France and Britain. The center-left German weekly Die Zeit framed the defeat as "the miracle of Alabama."

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Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com

White evangelicals stood by Moore

"Evangelical turnout (44 percent of the vote) in the election was slightly below 2012 and 2008 elections (47 percent). Early poll analysis suggests bigger election shifts among white voters with college degrees, and a swing among all voters supporting Jones more than past Democrats," The Washington Post reports. "Although Moore lost, Tuesday's vote demonstrated similarities to Trump's stunning victory one year ago when final exit polls showed 80 percent of white evangelicals - who make up about a quarter of the electorate nationwide - voted for Trump. (Election polls often sort white evangelicals together by race and religion because they have statistical similarities in beliefs and behaviors.)"

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Shelby congratulates Jones

The people of Alabama have spoken. Congratulations to Doug Jones. I spoke with him this morning, and I look forward to working together to do what’s best for the great state of Alabama. — Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) December 13, 2017

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Sen. Shelby says he thinks Moore losing helps Republicans in the long run: “As I watched the returns last night, I was conflicted because we’d lose a seat. But proud of the people of Alabama. I believe they chose principle over politics.” — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 13, 2017

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Brynn Anderson

Why did Moore lose?

The easy, immediate and accurate analysis of Roy Moore's loss in Tuesday's election for the U.S. Senate is that the allegations made against him cost him the race.

That's absolutely true.

And that's absolutely not true.

Without those allegations of sexual misconduct, which Moore repeatedly denied, he certainly would have sailed to victory. It's obvious when you look at the narrow margin of victory - about 1.54 percent unofficially, according to the Alabama Secretary of State's website - that the Nov. 9 story in The Washington Post was Moore's political death knell. Read more here.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Strange, Moore give Trump two big defeats

"Out of the wreckage of Moore's defeat to Democrat Doug Jones, Trump faces mounting questions about the limits of his own political capital. He'll head into his second year in office with one less Republican senator, narrowing a margin already so slim that it has so far left him unable to push major legislation through Congress. Democrats, who started the year as a deeply wounded minority party, press toward the midterm elections with a burst of momentum from the most unlikely of states," AP reports.

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Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com

Accuser still wants investigation

Beverly Young Nelson, the woman who claimed Roy Moore assaulted her in his car when she was a teenager, said the loss was not the end of the matter.

"I feel like my story may have played a part in (Moore's loss) but I believe it was the other victims as well that helped in all this," Nelson told CNN. "Alabama is about to make some changes and I believe it's going to be on the positive side of things."

When asked if Democrat Doug Jones' upset win over Moore meant "case closed," Nelson replied "no."

"You're still hoping for an investigation?"

"I'm demanding one," Nelson replied.

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AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman

Trump helped Strange 'mightily'?

Hours after tweeting his congtratulations to Jones, President Donald Trump sent an early Wednesday morning tweet about Sen. Luther Strange.

"The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!," the 5:22 a.m. tweet read.

Trump says he "would have liked" for Moore to have won, though he acknowledges many fellow Republicans disagree, the AP reported.

Trump tells reporters at the White House that "a lot of Republicans feel differently. They're very happy with the way it turned out."

But the president says that "as the leader of the party, I would have liked to have had the seat."

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John Sharp | jsharp@al.com

An uphill fight?

Jones' victory will be played up in the national media as a potential sign of a Democratic wave in the 2018 midterm elections. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is also likely to be happy, knowing that his GOP Senate caucus won't have to start an ethics investigation into Republican Roy Moore.

But after the celebrations, will Jones be an effective senator given that he has only two years to serve the unexpired term of former Senator Jeff Sessions?

Political observers are skeptical. Read here for more.

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Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

Celebrities weigh in

A host of celebrities Tuesday night were quick to congratulate Jones.

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