Donald Trump's ally is defeated by Steve Bannon's anti-establishment candidate in Alabama Republican run-off
Alabama voters selected a conservative outsider candidate to be the Republican nominee to fill a Senate seat, according to US media tallies, dealing a blow to Donald Trump and party leaders who backed a more conventional candidate.
Roy Moore, the victorious candidate, is best known for twice being removed as the state’s most senior judge – for refusing a court order demanding he remove a Ten Commandments moment from the courthouse and for defying the Supreme Court’s decision legalising same sex marriage.
Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017
The run-off had been billed as the battle of Trump versus Trumpism. While the president supported Luther Strange, who took over the seat when Jeff Sessions vacated it to become attorney general, Mr Trump’s populist allies including Nigel Farage and Steve Bannon backed Mr Moore as the better anti-establishment figure.
Mr Moore argued that the election was a chance to send a message to the "elite Washington establishment" that was trying to influence the race in the shape of an estimated $9 million channeled to Mr Strange from the Senate Leadership Fund, a group with links to the party leadership.
LIVE: Bannon reax at Moore party after seeing Trump tweet praising ROY pic.twitter.com/DflQ8DZMkl
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 27, 2017
His election night party erupted in cheers as news of the result filtered through.
Mr Bannon took to the stage to introduce the winning candidate.
He said: "Who is sovereign, the people or the money? Alabama answered today: The people."
For his part, Mr Moore delivered a message tailored for his evangelical supporters.
"We have to return the knowledge of God and the Constitution of the United States to the United States Congress," he told the crowd.
Although Mr Trump expressed his support for the winner, he - or someone with access to his Twitter account - spent Tuesday evening deleting earlier tweets in support of Mr Strange.
"Luther Strange has been shooting up in the Alabama polls since my endorsement. Finish the job - vote today for "Big Luther," was among the missing messages, according to ProPublica.
