This week, a small group of GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore backers called for the censure of Alabama’s senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby.
According to Politico, a group of three Moore supporters submitted a resolution to the Alabama Republican Party executive committee arguing that Shelby “publicly encouraged Republicans and all voters to write in a candidate instead of voting for the Republican Candidate Judge Roy Moore,” and that his “public speech was then used by the Democrat Candidate in robocalls to sway voters to not vote for Judge Roy Moore.”.
This resolution was proposed after Courageous Conservatives PAC (a Roy Moore group) ran anti-Shelby robocalls last month. “Sen. Richard Shelby stabbed President Trump and conservatives in the back,” one robocall said. “Tell Shelby you’ll never forget his disloyalty to President Trump and the Republican Party for his treasonous actions. Tell Shelby he’s betrayed his trust to Alabamians and he should resign his office. Call now.”
A Dallas based investor Christopher Ekstrom financed the anti-shelby robocalls. In an interview with Politico, Ekstrom compared Shelby to Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, both of which are outspoken Trump critics.
“We no longer have Bob Corker to kick around, we no longer have Jeff Flake to kick around, but we do have Richard Shelby to kick around up and down the street until he gets out.” said Ekstrom.
Shelby publicly stated that he “couldn’t vote for Roy Moore” after the former Alabama Chief Justice was accused of having inappropriate sexual conduct with teenage girls in the 1970s. Sen. Shelby said he wrote in the name of a “distinguished Republican,” despite the warning from the Alabama Republican Party chairwoman that the party’s members should support their nominee.
Shelby’s statements have also been used by the winner of the Senate race, Doug Jones, in a robocall urging support for himself over Roy Moore. Evidence of which was included in the censure resolution proposed to the Republican Party’s resolution committee.
