Grassroots conservative champion Judge Roy Moore crushed establishment candidate Senator Luther Strange (R-AL) in Tuesday’s Alabama U.S. Senate runoff election by a whopping 54 percent to 45 percent margin, with 95 percent of all precincts reporting.
The 9 point victory came for Moore despite being outspent by his opponent and his opponent’s allies by at least 6 to 1, as well as President Trump’s inexplicable endorsement of Strange and his trip to Huntsville, Alabama on Friday to host a well-attended and boisterous rally with Strange in which he doubled-down in his support for the former Alabama Attorney General.
Tellingly, Strange only won four counties in the state–two in the Birmingham area (Shelby and Jefferson), one that comprised the metropolitan Huntsville area (Madison), and Sumter County on the border with Mississippi.
President Trump promised at the rally that he would support Moore if he won and campaign for him vigorously to secure a victory for Republicans in the December 12 general election against Democratic nominee Doug Jones.
True to his word, Trump congratulated Moore on his victory Tuesday evening:
Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017
The Associated Press reported on the scene at Moore’s victory celebration in Montgomery:
The crowd at Moore’s election party broke into loud applause as media outlets called the race. Former White House strategist Steve Bannon took the stage to introduce Moore as supporters waving flags cheered Tuesday night.
“We have to return the knowledge of God and the Constitution of the United States to the United States Congress,” Moore told the crowd.
Bannon declared Moore’s win a victory for Trump, despite the president’s support for Strange. Moore said he supports the president and his agenda
The blowout was so huge that the Senate Leadership Fund, the SuperPAC associated with Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) which spent over $9 million in an unsuccessful attempt to elect Strange, issued a congratulatory statement to Moore at 8:10 pm central, only one hour and ten minutes after the polls closed.
“Senate Leadership Fund President and CEO Steven Law tonight released the following statement on Alabama’s U.S. Senate Primary Runoff results,” the statement began:
We are proud to have fought alongside President Trump and the NRA in support of a dedicated conservative who has loyally supported this President and his agenda. Senator Strange can hold his head high knowing that he played a critical role in cleaning up the corruption in Montgomery, confirming President Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court, and strongly supporting the President’s priorities on border security and repealing Obamacare. While we were honored to have fought hard for Big Luther, Judge Roy Moore won this nomination fair and square and he has our support, as it is vital that we keep this seat in Republican hands.
Less than an hour later, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released her own statement on the Alabama run-off election:
“Congratulations to Roy Moore on his victory tonight,” said Chairwoman McDaniel. “The people of Alabama are united behind the conservative agenda Republicans are championing in Washington. This message of support for President Trump and his agenda will be loud and clear when the people of Alabama head to the polls again in December.”
Strange soon conceded to Moore in this tweet:
Luther Strange: "I congratulate Roy Moore on the result this evening." pic.twitter.com/I2UBN9bRRa
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) September 27, 2017
Judge Roy Moore is a great choice!! Good Luck Judge!
The final nail in Strange’s coffin as far as I am concerned was President Trump’s comment in Huntsville that Senator Strange flipped from a “no” to a “yes” on the GOP proposed healthcare bill simply because the President called him on the phone and asked for him to change. Apparently Strange did not even ask why he should change his vote. Anyone that unprincipled does not need to be in the Senate.