HOMEWOOD, Ala. (AP) - The Latest on the Alabama Senate Republican primary (all times local):
2 p.m.
President Donald Trump says the conservative Alabama judge who defeated a Trump-backed candidate in a special GOP election will be a “great senator.”
Roy Moore defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Luther Strange in Tuesday’s race for the Alabama seat once held by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Trump commented on the election as he left the White House on Wednesday for a trip to Indiana. The president said Moore ran a “really great race.”
Trump had endorsed Strange and campaigned for Strange last week in Hunstville, Alabama.
Strange faces off against Democrat Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election.
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9:20 a.m.
Firebrand jurist Roy Moore says he’s received a call of support from President Donald Trump following his win the Alabama Republican Senate primary.
Trump backed Moore’s opponent Luther Strange, but has offered support for Moore in the general election.
Moore tells “Fox and Friends” that he supports Trump’s agenda. He says he beat Strange because people in Alabama “understand what I stand for.”
Moore’s win stood as a rebuke for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who backed Strange. Moore says he would have opposed the latest Republican effort to overhaul “Obamacare,” calling it “socialized medicine at best.”
Asked if he will work with McConnell, Moore says he’ll work with anyone that “stands for a conservative agenda.”
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7:45 a.m.
President Donald Trump is calling jurist Roy Moore a “great guy who ran a fantastic race” after winning the Alabama Republican primary for Senate.
Trump said on Twitter Wednesday that he had spoken to Moore Tuesday night “for the first time.” In a reference to his “make America great again” slogan, Trump says Moore “will help to #MAGA!”
Trump and allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed Moore’s opponent Luther Strange in the race and Trump traveled to Alabama last Friday to stump for Strange.
A firebrand known for publicly displaying the Ten Commandments and opposing gay marriage, Moore consolidated support from a number of anti-establishment forces, including former White House strategist Steve Bannon.
Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 special election.
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3:30 a.m.
Mitch McConnell is facing a rebuke from an Alabama Senate primary Tuesday night while President Donald Trump at least is dealing with some embarrassment after picking the wrong candidate.
The president and the Senate majority leader backed Sen. Luther Strange but Republican voters gave firebrand jurist Roy Moore the victory in a Republican primary runoff.
The result shows how the same outsider politics that propelled Trump makes it harder for him to navigate Washington now that he’s president.
McConnell now faces the prospect of other Republican challengers like Moore forcing uncomfortable Senate primaries in 2018. And the Senate leader already failed to keep his 52-seat majority together on a health care overhaul.
Next up are equally tough debates on taxes, immigration and the nation’s credit limit.
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