The Associated Press called the Alabama Senate race for Doug Jones at 9:23 p.m. local time, as the Democrat bested Republican Roy Moore, an accused pedophile.
For Jones, just having a (D) next to his name meant an extremely steep climb in a state that hadn't voted for a Democratic senator in 31 years - and that man, Sen. Richard Shelby, later changed his affiliation to Republican. But Jones was buoyed by a mix of grit and chance - campaigning rabidly through the end, while Moore traveled out-of-state, haunted by accusations that he had pursued and molested teenagers while he was a man in his 30s. The election had become bigger than these two men, with President Trump's name - and also that of his former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon - also attached to Moore's name on the ballot. On the Democratic side, former President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and potential 2020 candidate Sen. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, had chimed in. For most of the night, Moore held a comfortable lead in the deeply Republican state. Lurking below, however, were ominous signs that an upset, or a recount, could be on the horizon, with the New York Times' live estimate predicting a Jones win for most of the night.
