Jeff Sessions lost an Alabama Senate GOP primary runoff on Tuesday to former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, CNN projects, a major blow to the former attorney general who faced fierce opposition to his candidacy from President Donald Trump.
Tuberville, who was endorsed by the President, will now advance to the general election as the Republican candidate set to take on incumbent Alabama Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in November. Jones, who pulled off an upset in the deep red state in a 2017 special election, is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat facing reelection in 2020. As a result, the race is likely to be the Republican Party’s best pick-up opportunity of the cycle.
The outcome of the race marks a significant political defeat for Sessions, who had been fighting to reclaim a Senate seat that he had previously held.
