Following the release of an intelligence report that confirmed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, lawmakers said on Feb. 28 they are uncertain how the Biden administration should move forward in dealing with the Middle East leader.
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What’s happening in Alabama
Democrat Doug Jones has won the special election to fill a Senate seat in Alabama, according to exit polls and returns – a shocking upset in a solidly Republican state, in which massive turnout among African American voters helped defeat a candidate enthusiastically backed by President Trump. The Associated Press called the race at 10:23 p.m. Eastern time.
Why Jones won: Moore missed Trump’s standard in every Alabama county
Democrat Doug Jones pulled off a nail-biting win in Alabama’s Senate special election, skating by with 50 percent of the vote to Roy Moore’s 48. That represents a monumental victory for the Democrats in a deep-red state where Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump by 28 points.
Jones’s win comes thanks to a significant, nearly uniform surge of Democratic votes statewide. But he also owes the victory in large part to Moore’s unpopularity — the Republican seriously underperformed in statewide elections even before he faced accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against teenage girls.
Lost
(voted more
democratic)
Gained
(voted more
republican)
In percentage
points
-15
-10
-5
0
5
Flipped county
Each dot represents
500 people
Comparing Moore in 2012
to Moore in 2017
In 2012, Moore won a state Supreme Court seat. In 2017 he outperformed his margins in 32 counties, but in 35 others he did worse.
Huntsville
Decatur
NORTH AND
CENTRAL
Gadsden
Birmingham
Tuscaloosa
Auburn
Selma
Montgomery
BLACK BELT
SOUTH
Dothan
Mobile
Comparing Trump in 2016
to Moore in 2017
Every single county swung left compared to 2016, with some moving more than 15 points. Moore lost 12 counties that Trump won.
Huntsville
Decatur
NORTH AND CENTRAL
Gadsden
Birmingham
Tuscaloosa
Auburn
Selma
Montgomery
BLACK BELT
SOUTH
Dothan
Mobile
Gained
(voted more republican)
Each dot represents
500 people
Lost
(voted more democratic)
In percentage
points
Flipped county
-15
-10
-5
0
5
Comparing Moore in 2012
to Moore in 2017
Comparing Trump in 2016
to Moore in 2017
In 2012, Moore won a state Supreme Court seat. In 2017 he outperformed his margins in 32 counties, but in 35 others he did worse.
Every single county swung left compared to 2016, with some moving more than 15 points. Moore lost 12 counties that Trump won.
Moore lost support in the ring of mostly white counties east of Birmingham.
Huntsville
Huntsville
NORTH AND
CENTRAL
NORTH AND
CENTRAL
Birmingham
Birmingham
Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa
Selma
Selma
Montgomery
BLACK BELT
BLACK BELT
SOUTH
SOUTH
Moore’s vote share increased in the mostly rural white region.
The Black Belt had strong turnout and support for Jones, who won a bigger margin there than Clinton did last year.
Mobile
Sources: Decision Desk HQ, U.S. Census Bureau
Exit polls show gender, racial divides
African Americans make up about 3 in 10 Alabama voters so far on Election Day according to preliminary exit polls, a hair higher than the 28 percent of the electorate in 2012 presidential election and 29 percent in 2008, the two most recent elections where state exit polling is available — and first African American president Barack Obama was running in both elections.
Sex by race
Sex by race
Sex by race
Sex by race
Jones (D)
Write-in
Moore (R)
White men 35% of voters
White women 31% of voters
Black men 11% of voters
Black women 17% of voters
Race
Race
Race
Jones (D)
Write-in
Moore (R)
White 66% of voters
Black 29% of voters
NET Nonwhite 34% of voters
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