Three Reasons Alabama Made Democrat Doug Jones its Next Senator

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2017/12/gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1024;s:6:"height";i:576;s:4:"file";s:79:"2017/12/gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:12:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:77:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-600x576.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:576;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-600x576.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:576;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:79:"gettyimages-887256202_wide-8b2b493082ef10b6cdbe2d1f135bc472333bff14-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:12:"Getty Images";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:111:"Alabama Democratic Senate nominee Doug Jones speaks as he hosts a "Women's Wednesday" campaign event this week.";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:21:"gettyimages-887256202";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:1:{i:0;s:19:"|storyid=569138955|";}}}
        )

)
1665272111 
1513172496

In a dramatic and highly contentious race, Alabama voters on Tuesday elected Democrat Doug Jones to the U.S. Senate. Jones will occupy the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. This marks the first time in a quarter century an Alabama Democrat won a U.S. Senate seat.

 

There were a few main reasons Jones beat Republican Roy Moore, according to Democratic pollster Zac McCrary:

 

Energized Democrats 

Democratic votes surged statewide, especially in urban areas including Jefferson County as well as Alabama’s Black Belt region, the state’s poorest region. Statewide, 96 percent of African Americans supported Jones, a percentage point higher than supported former President Barack Obama in 2012.

 

Moore’s Unpopularity

 

McCrary says many GOP voters “just could not bring themselves to vote for Roy Moore.” Moore’s popularity among more mainstream Republican voters was shaky even before allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against Moore. “Roy Moore was already a damaged candidate before the reports of predatory behavior surfaced,” McCrary says.

Some voted for Jones, some chose a write-in candidate, and some stayed home on Election Day, he says.

 

Limits to Party Loyalty

 

There are limits to partisanship. “Voters will only be pushed so far, and then they push back. And that’s what we saw last night, was a rejection of a divisive style of politics even in a very red state,” McCrary says.

 

A Look Ahead

 

The lesson for Democrats looking to 2018? A good Democratic candidate can catch lightening in a bottle, McCrary says. Jones, he says, is the prototype for that brand of political success.

 

 

 

 

‘Fairyland’ recalls a girl’s life with her poet father in pre-AIDS San Francisco

Alysia Abbott's memoir about growing up in 1970s San Francisco with her gay, single father, has been adapted into a film directed by Andrew Durham and produced by Sofia Coppola.

Los Angeles: Spaghetti Cumbia, a band born from cultural fusion

Photographers and storytellers Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky document cumbia music in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and the United States.

What are your holiday shopping plans? NPR wants to hear from you

Is this the season of cutbacks or splurges? As we prepare to cover holiday shopping and deals, NPR wants to hear from you, whatever your plans may be.

Laufey was an ‘odd fish’ in native Iceland. Now she’s a jazz-pop star

The Grammy Award-winning singer and musician had rigorous classical training. Now she's making music that crosses genres: "I've been inspired by Golden Age films, the va-va-voom of it all," she says.

What does Montreal sound like?

World Cafe is kicking off its latest Sense of Place series with a playlist that offers a glimpse of Montreal's lively music scene.

Dozens of Bob Ross paintings will be auctioned to help public TV after funding cuts

Thirty of Ross' trademark landscapes will be sold at a series of auctions starting in November. He painted many of them live on The Joy of Painting, which started airing on PBS in the 1980s.

More Front Page Coverage