Sessions to face Tuberville in Alabama GOP Senate runoff

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions advanced to the Republican runoff in his bid to regain his old Senate seat in Alabama.

Sessions will face off against former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville in the March 31 runoff after no Republican candidate earned more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, according to The Associated Press.

Despite Sessions holding the Senate seat for 20 years, the GOP primary race remained close as results came in Tuesday night, with Tuberville and Sessions rotating in and out of first place.

Sessions was ousted as attorney general in 2018 after his relationship with President Trump soured because of the former senator’s decision to recuse himself from the FBI investigation into Russia’s election meddling and the Trump campaign.

Trump’s relationship with Sessions has loomed over the race, but he’s largely kept his distance publicly during the Republican primary. Sessions and Tuberville, as well as Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), who finished in third place, touted themselves during the primary as the candidate most aligned with Trump.

Whoever wins the runoff election will face off against Democratic Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Democratic senator.

Jones won his seat in 2017 when he beat GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore, who faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Moore also ran again for the party’s nomination this year but lost on Tuesday night.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on Tuesday night referred to both Tuberville and Sessions as “deeply flawed.”

The Alabama Senate race is ranked by The Cook Political Report as “leans Republican.”

Updated at 11:45 p.m.