Former Vice President Joe Biden gave thumbs-up to former federal prosecutor Doug Jones in his bid for the Democratic nomination for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat.
Al.com reports that Biden is featured in a robocall Thursday urging voters to cast ballots for Jones in Tuesday’s special primary to decide who will finish the term of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Jones’ campaign published the text of Biden’s robocall on Facebook:
“Doug has spent his entire life fighting for justice. He was the man after the 1963 church bombings that would not let it rest until he found the killers of those four young girls — and he eventually found justice — prosecuting and jailing those Klansmen nearly 40 years later. He’ll take that same energy and drive and fight for you and your families in the Senate — for a higher minimum wage, for fair, affordable health care, for good schools for all our kids. Doug Jones will make a great U.S. Senator so please make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday — and I’m hoping you’ll vote for my friend, Doug Jones.”
With Biden taking sides, both Obama and Trump administrations have weighed in on the Alabama U.S. Senate election. Donald Trump tweeted his support for sitting Sen. Luther Strange this week.
Also supporting Jones is Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham.
In a Raycom poll conducted last month, Robert Kennedy Jr. — no relation to the famous Kennedy family — is leading the Democratic race with 49 percent, compared to 28 percent for Jones.
Jones and Kennedy are part of an eight-person field that includes Will Boyd, Vann Caldwell, Jason Fisher, Michael Hansen, Brian McGee and Charles Nana.
Unless one of the candidates can secure a 50 percent plus one majority of the vote in the Aug. 15 primary, Alabama voters will have to decide between the top two vote-getters in a Sept. 26 runoff. The general election is Dec. 12.
