Thus far, there has generally been a lack of positive reaction to former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore’s announcement he would be joining the race for a U.S. Senate seat in 2020, a seat currently held by Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook).
Count Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) among those who are not thrilled about Moore’s candidacy.
During an appearance on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” on Friday, Rogers called Moore’s 2017 loss to Jones a “unique situation” and predicted Moore would not be the 2020 nominee.
“That was a unique situation in that special election in December,” he said. “And regardless of who our nominee is going to be this time, and we’re going to have a spirited primary. And I personally don’t think Roy Moore is going to be our nominee, but whoever our nominee is will prevail in November because you’ll have the full complement of Republican voters turning out turning out to vote, whereas in that special election because he did have such a problem, half the Trump voters wouldn’t turn out and vote because they wouldn’t vote for a Democrat, and they weren’t going to vote for him, whereas the Democrats nationwide poured an enormous effort into Alabama to make sure the turnout for Doug Jones was at the same level Hillary Clinton had had in the presidential election. This is going to be a completely different playing field and whoever the Republican nominee is going to be successful next year, but I don’t think it is going to be Roy Moore.”
Show host Susan Swain asked the Calhoun County Republican if he welcomed Moore’s entrance into the contest.
“I do not,” he replied.
Rogers offered up other contenders in the likely 2020 U.S. Senate field, including U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, Secretary of State John Merrill and State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs).
“I think three of those four – anyone of them would be a strong nominee in the general election,” he said. “I couldn’t pick who the front-runner is, but any of those three would be strong.”
As for former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who served as one Alabama’s U.S. Senators for two decades, Rogers said he did not think it was a possibility.
“I love Jeff Sessions,” Rogers said. “He is one of my favorite people on the planet. But I think he has moved on. I don’t think he has any interest in going back to the United States Senate. He is enjoying private life. And being with his family right now.”
@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.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.