Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, a Republican, was a big winner in Escambia County but came up short statewide against Democrat Doug Jones in the race for the state’s vacant seat in the U.S. Senate.
According to results posted on the Alabama Secretary of State’s website, Jones was named on 671,151 ballots in the December 12 special election, edging Moore by fewer than 21,000 votes. Almost 23,000 voters elected to write-in an unannounced candidate rather than vote for either of the two major-party candidates.
The Washington Post cited “a massive turnout among African-American voters” as the key to the political upset in a state that is traditionally a GOP stronghold.
The special election was called by Gov. Kay Ivey to allow voters to fill the senate seat formerly occupied by Jeff Sessions, who was tapped by President Donald Trump as U.S. Attorney General. Former Gov. Robert Bentley had appointed former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to fill the vacancy, but Strange lost to Moore in the Republican Primary.
According to figures provided to Secretary of State John Merrill by Escambia County Probate Judge Doug Agerton, Moore was an overwhelming winner in county balloting. The controversial Supreme Court jurist, who earned Trump’s endorsement, received 4,985 of the 8,715 votes cast (57.2 percent) to easily outdistance the former U.S. Attorney, who drew 3,640 votes. There were 87 local write-ins.
A precinct-by-precinct recap of local voting is shown below.
