Polls close at 8 PM ET tonight in Alabama, where Republican Roy Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones for the final three years of Jeff Sessions’ term. Alabama hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office in close to 10 years, but numerous reports of Moore’s past predatory behavior have made this race as unpredictable as they come. Recent polls have been all over the map, suggesting any outcome is possible.
To help follow along as the results come in, David Jarman has created benchmarks for the most important counties, which will give target numbers that Jones or Moore will have to meet in order to narrowly win statewide. We’re liveblogging the results below, and you can also follow our coverage on Twitter. Note that while voters have the option to write in a name other than Moore or Jones, the state won’t tally write-in votesunless the total number of write-ins exceeds the margin of victory between the two official candidates.
Results: Secretary of State | Associated Press | New York Times
Jones just took the lead! 49.3 to 49.1 with 86% of precincts reporting.
Looking at the map, it seems that Shelby County is the only Moore County with a sizable number of precincts left, while there are still tons of precincts that haven't reported in Mobile, Montgomery, and Jefferson, where Jones leads.
Now 88% reporting and Jones’ lead is growing, up to 49.6 to 48.8, around 10,000 votes.
WOW.
BREAKING: Democrat Doug Jones wins election as U.S. senator from Alabama. @AP race call at 10:23 p.m. EST. #AlabamaElection #APracecall— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) December 13, 2017
BREAKING: Democrat Doug Jones wins election as U.S. senator from Alabama. @AP race call at 10:23 p.m. EST. #AlabamaElection #APracecall
This is easily the most epic election victory the Daily Kos Elections team has ever borne witness to. And note this stat: This is now the 34th seat that Democrats have flipped from red to blue this year.