GOP candidate welcomes Roy Moore to enter Alabama Senate primary

Rep. Bradley Byrne (R), who is seeking the Republican nomination for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat, said he welcomes failed GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore to enter the race.

He also suggested that the incumbent senator is already running scared in the 2020 race, after Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) suggested Moore should jump in.

“Doug Jones knows if I’m the Republican nominee he is absolutely done,” Byrne told The Hill on Thursday. “I will beat him big time.”

“Senator Jones is scared of my candidacy and so he’s trying to do anything sort of frantically to keep me from getting the Republican nomination,” he added.

{mosads}Moore — who was defeated by Doug Jones in 2017 after facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct conduct with teenage girls while he was in his 30s — recently hinted he’s weighing another bid for the Senate.

Jones this week told Politico that if Moore and the Republican Party believe the seat was “stolen” due disinformation, they should “just step aside, have a press conference with him and let’s just do it again.”

Byrne said he believes the Alabama Democrat is showing “panic on his part” as he gears up to fight for a second term.

“I’ve supported Judge Moore, he and I have known one another for a long time,” Byrne added. “If he wants to get into the race, I certainly welcome him in the race, but I intend to be the Republican nominee.”

Alabama has traditionally been a stronghold for the GOP. Jones’ victory in the special election to replace former Sen. Jeff Sessions (R), marked the first time in 25 years a Democrat was elected to Senate in the Yellowhammer State. Most strategists consider Moore a weak GOP candidate who was the only reason Jones could win. 

Byrne, who is currently serving his third term in the House, expressed confidence in his ability to flip the seat back into Republican control.

Byrne announced his official candidacy last week.