Alabama Senate Election Results: Doug Jones Defeats Roy Moore

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Democrat Doug Jones won the U.S. Senate election Tuesday in Alabama over Republican Roy Moore to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state since 1992. Jones will fill out the remainder of former Sen. Jeff Sessions' term, due to end on Jan. 3, 2021 after the 2020 election. Sessions resigned from his Senate seat in February, which he had held since 1997, to become attorney general. However, despite all major media outlets declaring Jones the winner, Moore refused to concede the election.

"We need to wait it out, and let this process play out," Moore said late Tuesday night. "We know that God is always in control." Moore said when an election is this close, he needs to wait for all votes and a possible recount before conceding.

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said an automatic recount could be done only if the margin of victory is half a percentage point or less. Jones has a 1.9 percent lead. However, Merrill said all provisional ballots will be counted by next Tuesday. Merrill said he would find it "highly unlikely" for Jones to end up not being the winner. Moore's campaign can pay for a recount, but no one from the Moore camp said whether or not that will happen.

Jones, however, delivered a victory speech to his followers. "I am truly overwhelmed," Jones said. "We have shown the country the way that we can be unified. The people of Alabama have spoken. This campaign has never been about me. It has never been about Roy Moore, it has been about the people of Alabama. This campaign was about finding common ground, and getting things done for the people."

Moore's message proved to be divisive, with heavy support from former White House strategist Steve Bannon. Jones said he believes being able to "reach across the table" and come to common ideas with Republicans was vital to the success of his campaign. The election saw 32 percent voter turnout, a much higher total than was expected by election officials.

Jones entered November trailing Moore by single digits in most polls, which had been unheard of in Alabama since the 90s - the last time a Democratic senator was elected from Alabama. According to polls from Real Clear Politics, Jones trailed Moore by an average of 2.5 points when the day began. Most strategists said the African-American vote and suburban vote would need to lean heavily to Jones for him to win, and reports show a larger percentage of black voters showing up to the polls Tuesday than normal.

According to a CNN exit poll, the makeup of voters break down as such:

• White: 65%
• Black: 30%
• Latino: 3%
• Asian: 0%
• Other race: 2%

The victory by Jones ends one of the most dramatic elections in Alabama history. Although Jones vowed to campaign on what he called "kitchen table issues" including crime, education, economics and constitutional issues, none of that mattered after Nov. 9, when The Washington Post published a story wherein four women accused Moore of pursuing them sexually and romantically when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

After that, more allegations surfaced regarding Moore and teen girls, and the stories seemed to reveal a pattern of behavior by Moore in that regard. Moore has denied the allegations and said they are politically motivated. However, throughout the month of November the race to fill the Alabama Senate seat focused almost entirely on the alleged sex scandal, despite Jones attempting to stay clear of the issue, trying to keep his campaign centered on its initial platform of "kitchen table issues."

Support of Moore from national GOP leaders fell off after the allegations surfaced, although in Alabama, Moore only lost a slight amount of support among Republican voters. And many local Republican leaders even came to Moore's defense. In once instance, State Auditor Jim Zeigler said nothing Moore did was illegal.

"Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist," Ziegler told The Washington Examiner. "Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.

"There's just nothing immoral or illegal here," Zeigler said. "Maybe just a little bit unusual."

This local support for Moore was not shared by national GOP leaders including President Donald Trump, who initially said Moore should step down if the allegations were true. Seeing that support for Moore had remained strong, the GOP embraced Moore again in recent weeks, stressing the importance of the tax reform bill to pass and the need for Moore's support of the bill.

Trump gave strong endorsements for Moore, taking to Twitter Friday morning, saying, "LAST thing the Make America Great Again Agenda needs is a Liberal Democrat in Senate where we have so little margin for victory already. The Pelosi/Schumer Puppet Jones would vote against us 100% of the time. He's bad on Crime, Life, Border, Vets, Guns & Military. VOTE ROY MOORE!"

The support Jones has received from national Democratic leaders and celebrities could have had an opposite effect on the race, as Moore's campaign ads and rallies focused more on "Alabama values" and how outsiders cannot come into Alabama and tell people how to vote, and that only Alabamians know what is best for the state. NBA star Charles Barkley attended a Doug Jones rally Monday night, saying it was time for Alabamians to stop looking like "idiots" to the rest of the country. As well, television and film actor Alyssa Milano was in Alabama driving people to the polls to vote.

When Jones began his campaign he requested repeatedly for Moore to debate him publicly, and Moore refused, which could have hurt Moore's campaign before the sexual misconduct scandal dominated the election discussion. For the most part, Moore's political positions had been mostly linked to his history of touting the 10 commandments as the law of the land, and statements he had made in his two decades of prior public service as a district attorney and judge. Jones had been timid to use the allegations against Moore in his campaign messages, trying instead to remain focused on his original platform - to defeat Moore using issues important to Alabamians, and using Moore's lack of comment on issues as his ammunition.

By December, Jones and his campaign started using the sexual misconduct allegations as ammunition against Moore. Despite the allegations, polls showed Moore's core supporters remained loyal, as most said they either did not believe the allegations against him or voted for him even if the allegations were true.

Watch: Democrat Wins Alabama Senate Seat In A Stunning Upset

Photo of Doug Jones rally by Michael Seale; Photo Roy Moore by Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Photo of a full parking lot at a Vestavia Hills polling spot by Peyton Shepard