Conservative firebrand defeats Trump pick in Alabama primary for U.S. Senate
Roy Moore
(Reuters) - Alabama voters elected conservative firebrand Roy Moore as the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday  dealing a blow to President Donald Trump and other party leaders who had argued that rival Luther Strange was a better bet to advance their priorities in Washington.
An outspoken evangelical Christian who has twice lost his position as the state’s top judge   Moore  won election with a fierce anti-Washington message and a call to put religion at the center of public life.
With all 67 counties reporting   Moore  led Strange by 55 percent to 45 percent.
Despite campaigning for Strange  Trump congratulated  Moore  for his victory and urged him to defeat Democrat Doug Jones in the December election to fill a seat that was held by Jeff Sessions before he became U.S. Attorney General in February.
“Congratulations to  Roy Moore  on  his  Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race.  Roy   WIN in Dec!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
 Republican candidate Roy Moore  makes  his  victory speech after defeating incumbent Luther Strange to  his  supporters at the RSA Activity center in Montgomery  Alabama  U.S. September 26  2017  during the runoff election for the Republican nomination for Alabama's U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. REUTERS/Marvin Gentry
“You’re going to see in state after state people that follow the model of  Judge Roy Moore   that do not need to raise money from the elites ”  he  said at Moore’s victory party.
Strange  64  a former state attorney general  earned a reputation as a reliable Republican vote after  he  was appointed to the seat in February.
But  his  close ties to party leaders proved to be a liability with some voters  who questioned whether former Governor Robert Bentley appointed him to Sessions’s seat in an attempt to avoid prosecution for a sex scandal. Bentley pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds and stepped down in April.
“It was sort of a ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours '” said R.L. Barber  77  a  Moore  supporter from Birmingham.
 Moore’s  uncompromising style could bring a new level of turbulence to the Senate  where Republicans have struggled to reach consensus on tax and spending issues and have failed repeatedly to roll back Obamacare.
But  Moore  said  he  would back the president.
“Don’t let anybody in the press think that because  he  supported my opponent I do not support  him  and support  his  agenda ”  Moore  said.
(Reuters) - Alabama voters elected conservative firebrand Roy Moore as the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday  dealing a blow to President Donald Trump and other party leaders who had argued that rival Luther Strange was a better bet to advance their priorities in Washington.
An outspoken evangelical Christian who has twice lost his position as the state’s top judge   Moore  won election with a fierce anti-Washington message and a call to put religion at the center of public life.
With all 67 counties reporting   Moore  led Strange by 55 percent to 45 percent.
Despite campaigning for Strange  Trump congratulated  Moore  for his victory and urged him to defeat Democrat Doug Jones in the December election to fill a seat that was held by Jeff Sessions before he became U.S. Attorney General in February.
“Congratulations to  Roy Moore  on  his  Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race.  Roy   WIN in Dec!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
 Republican candidate Roy Moore  makes  his  victory speech after defeating incumbent Luther Strange to  his  supporters at the RSA Activity center in Montgomery  Alabama  U.S. September 26  2017  during the runoff election for the Republican nomination for Alabama's U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. REUTERS/Marvin Gentry
“You’re going to see in state after state people that follow the model of  [TGT][TGT]  said at Moore’s victory party.
Strange  64  a former state attorney general  earned a reputation as a reliable Republican vote after  he  was appointed to the seat in February.
But  his  close ties to party leaders proved to be a liability with some voters  who questioned whether former Governor Robert Bentley appointed him to Sessions’s seat in an attempt to avoid prosecution for a sex scandal. Bentley pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds and stepped down in April.
“It was sort of a ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours '” said R.L. Barber  77  a  Moore  supporter from Birmingham.
 Moore’s  uncompromising style could bring a new level of turbulence to the Senate  where Republicans have struggled to reach consensus on tax and spending issues and have failed repeatedly to roll back Obamacare.
But  Moore  said  he  would back the president.
“Don’t let anybody in the press think that because  he  supported my opponent I do not support  him  and support  his  agenda ”  Moore  said.