Outside groups react to Doug Jones defeating Roy Moore in Alabama Senate race

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Doug Jones and Roy Moore

News outlets reported late Tuesday night that Doug Jones defeated Roy Moore in Alabama’s special election for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The Democrat emerged victorious ​in the​ ​deeply conservative, red state over Republican Moore, whose campaign was embroiled with allegations of sexual misconduct involving underage girls over 30 years ago.

Here’s what outside groups are saying of Jones’ victory:

Southern Poverty Law Center | President Richard Cohen:

It’s a great day for Alabama. We’ve seen through the demagoguery of a man who has been kicked out of office twice for putting his religious beliefs above the U.S. Constitution. We’ve seen through the hypocrisy of a man who has preyed on young girls while suggesting that gays and lesbians should be executed in order to protect children from them. It’s a great day for every person in Alabama who rejects bigotry and values the rule of law.

House Majority PAC | Executive Director Charlie Kelly:

Congratulations to Senator-Elect Doug Jones on a tremendous victory in Alabama. In what was deemed an improbable win, voters across Alabama sent a loud and clear message that will resonate across the country—the politics of progress and solutions defeated the politics of hate and division. Moreover, it’s clear that voters are tired of the failed policies pushed by Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump.

While Doug Jones put forward a thoughtful, results-oriented agenda focused on lifting up hardworking Alabama families, Roy Moore ran a negative, dishonest, scandal ridden campaign focused on bitterness and stoking cultural divides. This victory proves that voters won’t stand for the toxic policies and divisive rhetoric pushed by a candidate like Roy Moore and a Republican party that supported his appalling campaign.

People For the American Way | President Michael Keegan:

Tonight, Alabamans emphatically rejected Roy Moore’s long history of extremism—and they rejected a candidate running hard on the Donald Trump playbook. Today’s election is a victory for the country, a victory for the people of Alabama, a victory for basic decency and a victory for the women who were attacked and smeared simply for standing up and telling their stories.

… Doug Jones should be congratulated on his win tonight. And we should take note of the fact that he did it by standing up for his values, not running from them. That’s the path that’s going to help Democrats in 2018 and in 2020.

Democracy for America | Executive Director Charles Chamberlain:

Doug Jones’ victory tonight in deep-red Alabama isn’t just a crushing blow to Donald Trump’s agenda of bigotry, hate, and division, it’s a powerful reminder that progressives can win everywhere if we stand up for an inclusive populist political agenda and build campaigns that prioritize, energize, and mobilize the new American majority of Black, brown, and progressive white voters.

Any Republican who thinks they dodged a bullet by having the sexist, racist, and homophobic child predator their party nominated lose in the general election needs to have their head examined. Roy Moore’s candidacy and the Republican Party’s willingness to aid it has exposed a gaping wound of depraved moral indifference and political hypocrisy within the GOP that no single loss can cauterize.

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