By Zach Hester, Reporter • zach@southerntorch.com
ALABAMA — On Tuesday night, former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville was declared the victor over former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate.
The race was originally scheduled for March 31 but was pushed back to July 14 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to numbers provided by Decision Desk HQ, Tuberville defeated Sessions with 333,921 votes (60.74%) statewide, compared to Sessions’ total of 215,866 votes (39.26%). In DeKalb County, Tuberville led with 6,245 votes (76.97%) to 1,869 votes (23.03%) over the former U.S. Senator and Attorney General.
Tuberville, a first-time candidate who was endorsed in March by President Donald Trump, stated in his victory speech, “Your message of change is loud and clear.”
“We’re going to need everybody on deck. This is going to be hard. So we do appreciate your support. And now we’re all on the same team,” he concluded.
Sessions’ defeat is his first statewide loss. He previously won races for Attorney General of Alabama in 1994, before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996. He resigned his seat in the Senate in 2017 to become U.S. Attorney General under President Donald Trump, who endorsed Tuberville earlier this year.
In his concession speech, Sessions formally endorsed Tuberville stating, “He’s our nominee. We must stand behind him in November...the people of Alabama have spoken. They want a new fresh face to go to Washington. I think we will have that.”
Tuberville will face off against incumbent Democrat Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) in November.
“When I was elected, I promised the people of Alabama that I would put their interests first to find common ground and get things done for our state,” said Jones in a statement Tuesday night. “The choice before the voters is an unprepared hyper-partisan that will add to the divide in Washington, or my proven track-record to find common ground and get things done.”
The Cook Political Report currently rates the race as “Lean Red” and remains the most likely opportunity for Republicans to flip a Senate seat in 2020. In the latest poll conducted by Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM), Tuberville led Jones 44% to 36% with a margin of error of ± 5.1%.
The general election will be held on Tuesday, November 3.
