2020 Senate Elections Alternate

[HarrisonL]

By HarrisonL 2019

2020 Senate Races - 33 Class 2 seats are up, 2 Class 3 Special Elections occur

I will post a post below this on the thread for each race.

[HarrisonL]

Alabama Senate Race

Republican Primary

Bradley Byrne, US Rep AL-1
Mo Brooks, US Rep AL-5
Del Marsh, State Senate President
Gary Palmer, US Rep AL-6

Four Republican Candidates were vying to win the Republican Primary to take on vulnerable Democrat Doug Jones, each of these four candidates had popular support, and a theoretical shot to win according to the preliminary primary polls. President Trump opted to endorse Congressman Mo Brooks in the primary, giving him an early advantage in the race, the NRSC and Mitch McConnell opted to support Bradley Byrne for Senate, as they viewed him as the most electable candidate, and wanted to avoid a Roy Moore debacle. Polls showed Byrne and Brooks as the top candidates likely to advance to a runoff.

Preliminary Primary Results

(RUNOFF) Mo Brooks (34.3%)
(RUNOFF) Bradley Byrne (30.2%)
Gary Palmer (22.6%)
Del Marsh (12.1%)

With both Trump's pick and the establishment shoe-in advancing to the primary runoff, it was about to get contentious. The NRSC was running ads against Mo Brooks, trying to counteract multiple Presidential Campaign rallies. Byrne attacked Brooks for a 2019 scandal where he quoted Mein Kampf on the House Floor, Brooks called Byrne a phony conservative. Polls showed Brooks leading Byrne by somewhat large margins.

Runoff Results

(W) Mo Brooks (62.3%)
Bradley Byrne (37.7%)

General Election

(D) Doug Jones (inc), US Senator
(R) Mo Brooks, US Representative AL-5

As the general election began the NRSC endorsed Mo Brooks, doing a complete 180, as Alabama was one of their major 2020 Senate targets in that election. Brooks was polling ahead of Senator Jones by moderate margins for most of the General Election campaign, it was believed Trump's coattails would carry Brooks over the line by a larger margin. Brooks ran as a full conservative, pointing to his record in the House, touting being named its most partisan member. Senator Jones ran as a Moderate Democrat, pointing to his decent approval ratings, his votes for deregulation, and his support for liberal rights programs, Brooks however portrayed him as too socially liberal for the state, and even attacked Jones' son, Carson, for being gay. The campaign was particularly nasty, Presidential nominee Joe Biden visited Alabama multiple times during the campaign with his running mate Cory Booker, trying to counteract Trump's support for Brooks. Final polls showed Brooks ahead of Jones.

General

(W) Mo Brooks (56.3%)
Doug Jones (inc) (41.2%)
Write-in (2.5%)

[😥]

This is interesting. Your job similar to my "2020 Senate election: process and results"