FILE – This combination of 2017 file photos shows U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, left, and Sen. Luther Strange. Strange and Moore face off Tuesday, Sept. 26 in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate. (Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP, Butch Dill, File) (Associated Press)
CULLMAN – A wild, oftentimes crude, special election primary campaign comes to a close today as Republican voters head to the polls for the run-off election for U.S. Senate between Sen. Luther Strange and challenger Roy Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
Alabama voters have been inundated with campaign calls, mailings and television and radio ads. The eyes of the nation are on the election, as well. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both campaigned in the state on behalf of Strange, while former White House strategist Steve Bannon did the same for Moore.
What’s at stake?
Moore and Strange are both after the Republican nomination to fill the remainder of U.S. Attorney Gen. Jeff Sessions' Senate term. Strange was appointed to the seat in February by former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, after Sessions was appointed to his current position by Trump.
In the August 15 primary, Moore won Cullman County (47.51 percent), along with Democrat Doug Jones (65.78 percent). Statewide, the voter gap between Moore and Strange was narrower, with Moore taking 38.87 percent of the vote and Strange 32.83 percent. Strange garnered 31.04 percent of the vote in Cullman County.
Tuesday’s run-off winner will face Jones on Dec. 12. Jones is a lawyer and former U.S. attorney during the Clinton administration, based in Jefferson County. An advocate for education, healthcare and LGBTQ rights, he is best known for his successful 2001 prosecution of two perpetrators of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham.
Voter information
- Polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Cross Over Voting Rules: "Effective Aug. 1, 2017, according to Act No. 2017-340, Section 2(a), if an elector votes in a primary election, he or she may vote in a subsequent primary run-off election only if he or she voted in the primary election in the same political party for which the run-off election is being held. For those persons who did not vote in a primary election, they may choose either party's ballot in a primary run-off election." In other words, if you voted Democratic in the Aug. 15, 2017 primary, you may not vote in today's Republican primary run-off election. If you voted Republican or did not vote in the Aug. 15, 2017 primary, you may vote in today's Republican primary run-off election.
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