Campaign

Alabama GOP chief: ‘This race has ended’

by Rebecca Savransky - 12/13/17 9:18 AM ET

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan said in a statement late Tuesday that the state’s Senate race has ended.

“Now that this race has ended, may this holiday season of peace, love and hope resonate with everyone, regardless of one’s political affiliation,” Lathan said.

In the statement, Lathan said the party is “deeply disappointed” in the close race, in which Democrat Doug Jones defeated GOP candidate Roy Moore, who was plagued by accusations of sexual misconduct.

But, she said, “we respect the voting process given to us by our Founding Fathers.”

{mosads}Jones during his campaign repeatedly talked about reaching across the aisle to work with Republicans, Lathan noted.

“While these issues weren’t discussed and no other Democratic Senator has worked with the Republicans, all eyes will be on his votes,” she said.

“We will hold him accountable for his votes.”

She also said Alabamians are conservative “and have no intentions of moving toward the policies of the Democrat Party.”

“If Mr. Jones aligns himself with the liberal Democrats in Washington, Alabama voters will remember his choices in the 2020 U.S. Senate election,” she said.

Moore on Tuesday night refused to concede the special election after multiple media outlets called the race in favor of his Democratic opponent.

“At this point, we do not have a final decision on the outcome tonight,” Moore’s campaign chairman, Bill Armistead, told supporters.

“When the vote is this close, it is not over,” Moore said.

Alabama state law requires an automatic recount when election results are within 0.5 percentage points.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Jones holds 49.9 percent of the vote, compared to Moore’s 48.4 percent, a 1.5-point gap, according to The New York Times.

Moore’s speech followed an exuberant speech from Jones to his supporters in Birmingham, where he said his campaign was about “finding common ground” and that Alabamians led by example in showing the rest of the country how to be united.