Roy Moore, the polarizing Republican judge who lost a U.S. Senate race in a bitter 2017 special election, said Thursday he’s planning to run again in 2020.
Senate Republicans greeted the news with a collective eye roll, with Arizona’s Sen. Martha McSally dropping the zinger of the day to Politico:
“Give me a break. This place has enough creepy old men.”
“I won’t support him,” Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby told reporters. “There are a lot reasons known to you and everybody else. I think Alabama could do better.”
“The people of Alabama are smarter than that,” Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner said, according to Politico. “They certainly didn’t choose him last time, why would they choose him this time?”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky agreed. “He can do what he wants to, but we’re certainly going to oppose him in every way,” he told the Associated Press.
Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court justice, was beaten in 2017 by Democrat Doug Jones, a stunning outcome in a reliably Republican state. But Moore’s baggage, including multiple accusations of sexual assault or sexual misconduct with underage girls, proved to be too toxic for voters.
Despite backing his 2017 campaign, President Donald Trump urged Moore not to run again, tweeting last month that “he cannot win.”
“Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama,” Trump tweeted on May 29.
Moore himself may be one of the only ones who thinks he has a chance. “Can I win? Yes I can win,” he said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
His Republican opponents in 2020 will likely include Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne, former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville and state legislator Arnold Mooney, who have already announced their bids.
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