Jeff Sessions talks with the media after voting in Alabama’s primary election, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Mobile, Ala.
Vasha Hunt | AP
WASHINGTON – The Alabama Republican U.S. Senate primary is headed for a runoff, NBC News projected early Wednesday morning.
Tuesday’s primary contest pitted former Alabama senator and Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions against Rep. Bradley Byrne and political newcomer Tommy Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach.
Sessions and Tuberville will face each other in a runoff later this month. They finished as the top two candidates, and neither reached 50%.
“I will fight for Alabama every day, and we will win the Republican nomination on March 31,” Sessions told supporters, according to NBC News.
The Republicans were all competing for the chance to run against vulnerable Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, widely considered the most endangered senator up for reelection.
With all three candidates polling close to one another, the race still has the potential to be one of the most contentious primaries in the country, with all three candidates trying to run as close to Trump — who enjoys a 60% approval rating in Alabama — as they can.
The campaign is also a highly risky venture for Sessions, who fell out of favor with Trump after he recused himself from Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Sessions stepped down in 2018, and Trump has not endorsed his Senate bid.
Prior to joining the Trump administration, Sessions represented Alabama in Congress for three decades, first in the House and then the Senate. For Sessions, ending his political career with a loss in a primary runoff would surely tarnish his legacy.
