iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Voters are set to head to the polls in Alabama for primaries in the race for a U.S. Senate seat vacated when Jeff Sessions was confirmed as attorney general.
Following Sessions’ confirmation to Trump’s cabinet, then-Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley appointed the state’s attorney general, Luther Strange, to temporarily fill Sessions’ Senate seat until a special election. Strange has been representing the people of Alabama in the Senate since February. Prior to that, Sessions had held the seat since 1997.
Bentley subsequently resigned in April after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to campaign finance law. Following his resignation, Lt. Governor Kay Ivey took over the governorship and scheduled the special election to replace Sessions.
While the president’s approval rating stands at just 34 percent, according to the most recent Gallup data, the Alabama race has pitted Republican against Republican to see who can best prove their allegiance to Trump.
Trump unexpectedly endorsed Strange last week, sending out a tweet praising his work in the Senate thus far.
Senator Luther Strange has done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama. He has my complete and total endorsement!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017
The other two candidates, U.S. Representative Mo Brooks and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, have also tried to tie themselves closely to Trump, with Brooks promising to filibuster any government funding bill in the Senate that does not include money to build a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a key promise of Trump during the presidential campaign.
Brooks called Trump’s endorsement of Strange “baffling” in a statement.
Strange has the backing of the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The PAC, which has spent $3.5 million as of late July on the race, according to Politico, has also attacked Brooks for comments he made criticizing Trump during the 2016 presidential primaries. Brooks was an early supporter of Senator Ted Cruz before pledging his support to Trump.
Moore has raised eyebrows in the state for his stances and legal judgments from Alabama’s Supreme Court bench. He previously served as the chief justice for the Alabama Supreme Court, but was suspended in November 2003 for refusing federal court orders to take down a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building.
Moore was endorsed by conservative actor Chuck Norris, who said of the candidate, “Judge Roy Moore is the real deal. The Washington establishment knows they won’t be able to count on him, but Alabama voters can…That’s why the Washington establishment is spending millions trying to defeat Judge Moore.”
Alabama voters have not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1992. Among the seven Democrats running in the primary, contenders include Doug Jones, who served as U.S. district attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, and former naval officer Robert Kennedy Jr., who shares no affiliation with the famous presidential family.
A runoff election is scheduled for September 26 in the event that in either primary one candidate does not receive 50 percent of the vote or more. The special election is then scheduled for December 12, with the winner of that election going on to serve out the remainder of Sessions’ term until January 2021.
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