Recent polling released by Alabama-based Cygnal indicates that Roy Moore is not the force many expect him to be — at least not yet.
During the 2017 United States Senate special election, Moore, the GOP nominee, lost in an upset to now-Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), and many fear a Moore nomination would hand the Senate back to Jones.
Results of the poll as follows:
Tommy Tuberville – 29%
Bradley Byrne -21%
Roy Moore – 13%
John Merrill – 12%
Arnold Mooney – 2%
Undecided – 22%
Conventional wisdom in Alabama political circles is that if Roy Moore is possibly seen as a threat to be the nominee, forces could try to draft former U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions into the race and “clear the field.”
Speculation on this issue ramped up after Moore entered the fray and Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) apparently loves the idea of a Sessions return.
Moore’s distant third-place finish in this polling places him outside of the runoff, which may lead to Sessions staying out of the race.
Yellowhammer News’ “Guerrilla Politics” co-host and professor at Calhoun Community College Dr. Waymon Burke was asked about the potential of Sessions choosing to not enter the race.
He said he believed that Moore would not be the beneficiary of Sessions staying out. Burke added he believed that the Sessions vote would go “disproportionately to [Congressman Bradley] Byrne and [Secretary of State John] Merrill.”
My takeaway:
Sessions will remain the wild card in this race until he announces that he is not running, but if this poll is an accurate depiction of the state of play moving forward, Sessions may see no reason to jump into the race.
Listen:
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN.
