Schumer on Jones victory: ‘Things are looking better and better for 2018’

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday night praised Doug Jones after the Democrat’s stunning win over Republican Roy Moore in Alabama’s special election.

“Doug Jones will be an outstanding Senator who will represent Alabama well,” Schumer said in a statement. “He was a great candidate and will be an even better Senator.”

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“Roy Moore was an awful candidate and never should have gotten to the Senate. But make no mistake about it, just like in Virginia, Democrats are energized, focused on the middle class and those struggling to get there, and things are looking better and better for 2018,” he said.

Jones’s win comes about a month after Democrats swept to a similarly stunning victory in Virginia, where they won the governorship and gained seats in the state’s House of Delegates.

The Alabama upset came after allegations emerged that Moore had made sexual advances on teenage girls when he was in 30s. 

Despite concern among some in the GOP, President Trump openly endorsed Moore in the final stretch of the race, giving him a significant boost in the deep-red state.

Jones’s upset makes him the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Alabama since 1992.