Democrat Doug Jones won a narrow victory over Republican Roy Moore in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate race in Alabama. So how does that race reflect on upcoming races in Tennessee?
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam had a warning about the U-S Senate race in Alabama.
“Message is what I have been saying all along, Republicans need to elect people who can win two elections and obviously we nominated someone in Alabama,” he says.
Moore could not win a primary and then a general election against Jones. Allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls while Moore was a 30-something Assistant D.A. aside, there was more than that for Moore.
“This guy barely wins without a sex scandal and I think it was not unexpected that this would be a close race,” says conservative commentator Steve Gill. He says Alabama should be a learning experience.
“I think there are a lot of lessons that we can learn from AL. First, if you run a flawed candidate that does appeal to the base, they are not going to turn out in general elections,” says Gill.
And what does that say for Tennessee Republicans and conservatives.
“I think as we look at Republican primaries for Governor Senate and Congress, you need to look at who can win and represent conservative values in a state like Tennessee,” says Gill.
Tennessee’s Republican Governor says the Alabama Senate race should be a warning for his party.
“You are seeing some changing voting patterns for people in my party. It’s a heads-up. Why are we losing some voters that we have traditionally gotten?” says Haslam.
Remember, the Alabama race was about fulfilling the remaining years of Jeff Session’s senate term. The next election for the seat is in 2020.
