Roy Moore, Who Lost Senate Race in 2017 Upset, to Run in 2020

(Bloomberg) -- Alabama Republican Roy Moore said he will make another run for the Senate in 2020 after a stunning upset loss two years ago following accusations of sexual misconduct in his past.

“I believe in America,” Moore said. “Yes, I will run for the United States Senate in 2020.”

Moore’s entry might complicate a drive by Republicans to retake the seat now held by Democrat Doug Jones, which they see as their best target in next year’s elections. President Donald Trump won deep-red Alabama with 62% of the vote in 2016.

The 2017 special election underscored the ongoing intraparty war between conservative upstarts and establishment Republicans. Moore was backed by Trump and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other Senate Republicans opposed him.

Jones gained in polls following allegations that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl, assaulted a 16-year-old and pursued relationships with other teenage girls while he was in his 30s. Moore, who was twice removed as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for defying federal court rulings, denied the claims.

McConnell, Shelby

Moore, 72, was widely expected to eke out a narrow win in the special election for the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, who left to become attorney general. But Jones ultimately won, 50% to 48.4%.

Jones said in a statement Thursday, “Roy Moore has made what was already going to be a divisive Republican primary even more polarizing and extreme.”

“It’s now clear that my opponent will either be an extremist like Roy Moore or someone handpicked by Mitch McConnell to be his senator, not Alabama’s,” Jones added.

McConnell is among the Republicans who attempted to persuade Moore not to run again. “We will be opposing” him, McConnell told reporters shortly after Moore’s announcement.

And GOP Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama said Thursday that he was dismayed at the prospect of another Moore run, saying that “I think Alabama can do better than Roy Moore.”

Moore said Thursday he thinks he can win, and he wants to have “more personal contact” with the people of Alabama in this campaign. He cast his candidacy as a conservative bid against the Washington establishment.

“I think the people of Alabama know me and know what I stand for,” Moore said.

Trump Warning

Trump in May publicly warned against another Moore campaign, fearing loss of the seat.

“Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama,” Trump tweeted on May 29. “This time it will be for Six Years, not just Two. I have NOTHING against Roy Moore, and unlike many other Republican leaders, wanted him to win. But he didn’t, and probably won’t.”

Jones, a former prosecutor, is the only Senate Democrat on the 2020 ballot who is now seen as strong pickup opportunity for Republicans. At the same time, they are defending at least three vulnerable GOP incumbents: Martha McSally of Arizona, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine.

Republicans currently have a 53-47 majority in the chamber.

Immediately after Moore made his announcement, a super-PAC operated by allies of McConnell issued a statement expressing confidence he will be defeated in the primary.

“We believe most Alabama Republicans realize that nominating Roy Moore would be gift wrapping this Senate seat for Chuck Schumer,” said Jack Pandol, a spokesman for the Senate Leadership Fund. “It remains to be seen whether Moore can escape his baggage without his candidacy collapsing under its own weight, regardless of what groups on the outside do.”

Controversy ‘Grab-Bag’

Other Republicans vying for Alabama’s GOP Senate nomination include U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne, former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville and state Representative Arnold Mooney.

Sessions, the former attorney general, has not ruled out a run for his old Senate seat, according to Shelby. Moore’s candidacy could push Sessions to more seriously consider jumping in.

Moore will bring a grab-bag of controversial positions to the 2020 GOP primary. Among other things, he has argued that a Muslim shouldn’t be allowed to serve in the House because of his religion, has criticized the science of evolution and wants to make homosexual conduct a crime and restore a ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Jones, 65, was the lead prosecutor in the 2002 conviction of two Ku Klux Klan members for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The bombing killed four girls and injured 22 others, and turned the church into a symbol for civil rights activists.

--With assistance from Jack Fitzpatrick.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

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