Some have floated the possibility of a 2020 rematch of the 2017 U.S. Senate special election between incumbent Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. Jones pulled off the upset against Moore in the December 2017 contest to give Democrats their first major statewide contest win in over a decade.
The reasoning offered for the repeat match-up is that Democrats might consider participating in the 2020 Republican primary to vote for Moore given that some view Moore as the weaker possible opponent for Jones in the 2020 general election.
During an appearance on Tuesday’s “Matt & Aunie Show” on Birmingham radio’s Talk 99.5, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) dismissed the possibility of such a crossover strategy playing out for those hoping for Jones’ reelection.
Brooks told co-hosts Matt Murphy and Andrea Lindenberg he was aware of that theory but could not see it playing out given the strong support for President Donald Trump in Alabama and that Democrats would be more interested in participating in their own primary given the stakes of the presidential contest.
“I have heard it,” he replied. “I discount it. I don’t think there’s much of a chance of a role of having any kind of significant effect on the Republican primary Senate race for two reasons. In my judgment, first and foremost whoever our nominee is, is going to win against Doug Jones. Doug Jones now has a record. He cannot pretend to be a moderate. On the other hand, our voters are all going to show up for the presidential race, OK? So, our people are going to be there in force. And the second reason is the Republican senatorial primary is on the same day as the presidential primary. The big election is on the Democrat side. Are they going to vote in our primary and not get to vote on who’s going to be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States? I don’t think so.”
“There might be some small, small, small, small smattering – maybe some of Doug Jones’ family members,” Brooks continued. “But every other Democrat is going to vote in the presidential primary, which means they cannot vote in a Republican Senate race.”
“A lot of Democrats would have a real hard time voting for Roy Moore – even if there’s a strategic reason in their own heads for doing so,” Brooks added.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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