A Republican super PAC backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has no plans thus far to support Roy Moore in Alabama’s special Senate election.
“First of all, we hope those who helped Moore in the primary will stay focused on keeping this seat in Republican hands,” Senate Leadership Fund spokesman Chris Pack told HuffPost. “In terms of spending, we’re monitoring the race closely to see if Democrats demonstrate this is a competitive race.”
Moore, the conservative former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, won his party’s nomination last month and will face Democrat Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who left the Senate to become attorney general.
The GOP primary was a tough fight between Moore ― known for his virulent opposition to same-sex marriage, among other things ― and Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), who was appointed to the seat by the governor and was backed by the GOP establishment, including McConnell and President Donald Trump.
SLF spent millions in the race, primarily on negative ads against Moore. As of Oct. 10, its website was still displaying anti-Moore opposition research and press.
AL.com, which first reported on SLF’s decision, notes that the two public polls since Moore won his party’s nomination show him defeating Jones by 6 and 8 points.
After Moore’s win, SLF said he “has our support” but did not promise financial contributions.
National Democrats are still figuring out how much to throw into this race. So far, Jones has received only limited attention and support from the national party ― although that is starting to change.
Alabama is traditionally a state where Republicans dominate, but many Democrats want to see greater investment against Moore, who is about as odious a candidate to progressives as they come. In addition to telling probate judges to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality, Moore has said that Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) should not serve in Congress because he’s Muslim. Moore has also referred to people of color as “reds and yellows.”
As a U.S. attorney in 2002, Jones was the lead prosecutor in the case against two of the men responsible for 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
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