Tuberville takes early lead over Sessions in Alabama Senate runoff
July 14, 2020
Alabama GOP voters turned aside Jeff Sessions’ Senate comeback bid Tuesday night, instead choosing Tommy Tuberville, who had the backing of President Donald Trump, over the former attorney general and longtime senator.
Tuberville, the former Auburn University football coach, had a more than 20 percentage point lead over Sessions when The Associated Press called Tuesday's Alabama Senate primary runoff. President Donald Trump endorsed Tuberville four months ago and repeatedly bashed Sessions, hoping to scuttle the return of a close ally turned presidential punching bag.
Tuberville finished first in the March 3 primary and mostly ducked Sessions in the runoff, which was rescheduled from late March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Alabama Senate race is just one of a handful of competitive contests on the ballot Tuesday. Democrats in Maine picked state House Speaker Sara Gideon to face GOP Sen. Susan Collins in what could be the pivotal Senate race that determines which party holds the majority. Democrats are also picking a Senate nominee in Texas, and both parties will also select their candidates in contested congressional seats in Texas and Maine.
Tuberville will now face Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who is the most vulnerable senator on the ballot this fall. Jones narrowly won a 2017 special election and is seeking a full term in the deep-red state. Limited polling has shown him to be slightly behind either Tuberville, but Jones has a massive financial edge over the Republican.
Republicans are hoping not to blow another race in Alabama after the 2017 special election turned into a slow-rolling disaster for the party. Winning back the Alabama seat is essential for the GOP as the party protects its increasingly endangered Senate majority.
Most Republicans thought either candidate could defeat Jones, though some have expressed concerns about Tuberville, who is running his first-ever political campaign.
The primary was largely defined by Sessions’ relationship with Trump, who has often publicly castigated his former attorney general for recusing himself from the Department of Justice’s Russia investigation. Trump calls appointing Sessions the biggest mistake of his presidency, something he repeated on a call with Tuberville and his supporters Monday night.
“I will tell you I got to know Jeff Sessions very well. I made a mistake when I put him in as the attorney general," Trump said on the call. "He had his chance, and he blew it."
Sessions had been increasingly willing to fire back at Trump’s Twitter tirades. But he has also attempted to sidestep the issue in the primary and pin the focus on Tuberville. Sessions has repeatedly called the former football coach weak for refusing to debate and unprepared to handle policy issues in the Senate. Tuberville’s allies have brushed off those attacks and believe they have less sway with primary voters than Trump’s endorsement.
Trump barely mentioned Sessions in tweeting about Tuberville's victory Tuesday.
"Tommy Tuberville WON big against Jeff Sessions. Will be a GREAT Senator for the incredible people of Alabama. @DougJones is a terrible Senator who is just a Super Liberal puppet for Schumer & Pelosi. Represents Alabama poorly. On to November 3rd" Trump tweeted.
Sessions, in his concession speech, continued to defend his decision as attorney general to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. He also continued to defend Trump.
"I was honored to serve the people of Alabama in the Senate, and I was extraordinarily proud of the accomplishments that we had as attorney general," Sessions said after the race was called.
"I leave elected office with my integrity intact. I feel good about it. I hold my head high. I took the road less traveled, didn't try to excuse myself or get in a fight or undermine the leader of our country and the great work he has to do," Sessions said.
He also backed Tuberville, saying he looked forward to "helping Tommy Tuberville win this race. It's important for Alabama but it's also important for America."
Elsewhere on the Senate map, Gideon won her party’s nomination Tuesday to take on Collins, who is facing the most competitive reelection of her career as she seeks a fifth term. And Democrats MJ Hegar and Royce West are facing off in a runoff to become the party’s nominee against Sen. John Cornyn. The race in Texas was neck and neck with more than 500,000 votes counted.
Both parties will pick nominees in key swing districts — Republicans in rural Maine and suburban Houston and West Texas, and Democrats in two Texas seats.
In Maine, three Republicans — 2018 Senate nominee Eric Brakey, former state Rep. Dale Crafts and Adrienne Bennett, a former aide to then-Gov. Paul LePage — are vying for the chance to take on Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine). The race is almost certain to head to ranked-choice runoff, which election officials will compute once all ballots are received and is mandated if no candidate clears 50 percent.
Meanwhile, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls easily won a nasty GOP runoff in rapidly diversifying Houston-area seat. But megadonor Kathaleen Wall lobbed millions of dollars worth of TV ads against him and Nehls emerges with no money and high negatives.
In November, he will face Democratic Sri Kulkarni, who won his primary outright and is has $1.1 million in the bank.
The Republican runoff for a sprawling West Texas swing seat has turned into a proxy battle between competing national interests, where Trump might not come out on top.
Navy veteran Tony Gonzales, who is backed by House GOP leaders, trailed Raul Reyes, an Air Force veteran who is backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), by 4 points with 81 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrats will choose their candidates to take on Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) in Central Texas and for an open seat in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. In the race for McCaul’s seat, the 2018 nominee faces a a doctor who is running to the center.
And the race for a competitive, open House seat in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex pits an Air Force veteran against an educator backed by the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Republicans will also wrap up runoffs in safe, open seats in Texas and Alabama. Among the Texas candidates: Ronny Jackson, a former White House doctor, and former Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) who is running again in a district 100 miles south of the one he lost in the 2018 midterms. Both led their opponents as results came in Tuesday night.
Source: https://www.politico.com/