Candidates Make One Final Push Before Tuesday’s GOP Senate Runoff
Vice President Mike Pence addressed a crowd at a rally Monday night in Birmingham for Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange. Pence’s speech seemed at times more in support of Trump than it was for Strange as he ticked off some of the president’s accomplishments in office: rolling back the Obama administration’s Clean Energy Plan, cutting down on illegal border crossings, and job growth.
But for some GOP voters, Trump’s endorsement of Strange in the Senate race was enough to seal the deal. Chris Lawler of Mountain Brook said there were several good candidates in the Republican primary. But Lawler was committed to voting for whomever Trump endorsed “because I think President Trump needs all the support he can get,” he said. “And he’s fighting a hard battle, and if Luther Strange can help him further his agenda, I’m all about it.”
Lawler said if the president put his support behind someone else, he would have voted for that candidate. Meanwhile, a number of conservatives campaigned on the eve of Tuesday’s runoff for former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in Fairhope. Moore leads Strange in most polls despite a Senate Leadership Fund PAC pouring millions of dollars into Strange’s campaign.
Former White House Strategist and Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon and Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson were among those stumping for Moore Monday. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Trump assistant Sebastian Gorka campaigned for Moore last week.
Moore frequently quotes from the Constitution and the Bible at his campaign events, as he did at a recent stop in Heflin. Leta Head, a Vestavia Hills resident at the rally for Strange, said she agrees with conservative Christian principles. But she said Strange has proven during his seven months in the Senate that he can do more to further Trump’s agenda. “I just feel like we need somebody that will work well with others, with the rest of the Senators, and I think that Luther is a better candidate to do that,” she said. But Head, like many other Republican voters at Monday’s event featuring Pence, agree Tuesday’s runoff will be close.
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