Alabama Voters Pick Democrat Doug Jones
Former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones handed Republican Roy Moore a stunning blow in Tuesday’s special Senate election for the seat formerly held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The results capped off an intense race defined in recent weeks by allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore from decades ago. Moore did not concede late Monday evening.
Unofficial results showed Jones with 49.7 percent of the vote to Moore’s 48.6 percent. Jones shored up his strongest support in Jefferson, Madison, and Mobile counties. He also won in Alabama’s Black Belt counties, where the state’s poorest, mostly African American residents live. Jones ran an active campaign, with canvassers going door to door daily, running phone banks, holding popular benefit concerts and courting the state’s black voters.
Republicans were deeply divided over their support of Moore. Christian evangelicals in white, rural areas made up Moore’s base. President Donald Trump in the days leading up to the election urged Alabama voters to support the twice-removed former Alabama Supreme Court Justice in Tuesday’s race, as did Steve Bannon, head of the far-right news site Breitbart. But Moore declared war on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell early on in his campaign, with calls to “drain the swamp” a common refrain.
Senior Republican Sen. Richard Shelby told reporters he could not vote for Moore, and instead voted for a write-in. Several women accused Moore of pursuing them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30’s. The encounters ranged from sexual assault to sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.
Many Republican voters in the days leading up to the election had expressed their disappointment with Moore. Some vowed to sit out the election, while others would cast a write-in ballot. More than 22,000 voters wrote in a candidate Tuesday.
Jones spoke to an elated crowd of supporters from a hotel in Birmingham Tuesday night. “I have always believed that the people of Alabama had more in common than to divide us,” Jones said during his victory speech to an elated crowd. He promised to address health care, jobs, and the economy.
Jones said Alabama has taken the wrong path in the past. “Alabama has been at a crossroads … tonight, ladies and gentleman, you have taken the right road,” he said.
This is the first time Alabamians have elected a Democrat to the Senate in 25 years.
The Justice Department and Google battle over how to fix a search engine monopoly
After a federal judge ruled that Google had a monopoly on the search market, the tech giant and the government are in court to debate penalties. One possible result: forcing Google to spin off Chrome.
Trumps welcome thousands to the White House for the annual Easter egg roll
President Trump welcomed an estimated 40,000 people to the South Lawn of the White House on Monday for its annual Easter egg roll event. The annual tradition dates back to the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, and save for war and food shortages, has been a mainstay of Pennsylvania Avenue since 1878.
‘Andor’ and ‘You’ are back this week, along with a new Amy Sherman-Palladino show
Andor, featuring Diego Luna's charismatic performance as a rebel operative, has come at a perfect moment.
DHL will stop shipping packages over $800 to U.S. customers due to new customs rules
The shipping company's temporary new policy comes as President Trump continues to upend U.S. global trade policy.
A look back at Pope Francis’ life and legacy
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis died Monday, the day after Easter, at the age of 88. As the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, he was the first Latin American pontiff, the first non-European pope in more than a millennium, and he left behind a legacy of service, unity, and compassion.
Pope Francis died of a stroke and ‘cardiocirculatory collapse’
The official certification came from professor Andrea Arcangeli, the director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, according to Vatican News, an official publication of the Vatican.
