Amid growing reports that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions will enter the race to run for his old Senate seat, former Chief Justice Roy Moore said that he will officially qualify Thursday and he is running for the GOP nomination for Senate whether Sessions runs or not.
“I am in this race, and I will stay in this race,” he said.
Moore announced that he will be filling out the necessary paperwork with the Alabama Republican Party to qualify for the U.S. Senate seat at party headquarters in Hoover on Oct. 31, at 3 p.m.
“I have already stated that it does not matter to me who is in this race or isn’t,” Moore said. “It matters that the people of Alabama have a voice that will stand for God, Country, and family. Tomorrow, my campaign and I will finalize that by going to Birmingham and filing the paperwork to qualify with the state Republican party for the U.S. Senate seat.”
“Alabama must have a true conservative in the Senate that understands the Constitution and is unafraid of the Washington elite,” Moore continued. “My whole career has been dedicated to defending liberty, justice, and religious freedom. I have never been afraid to speak out for the truth, and the politicians in Washington know that. Conservatives in Alabama have not forgotten how this Senate seat was stolen from them in December 2017.”
Moore grew up in rural Etowah County. He was the Valedictorian at his Attalla High School and went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served in combat in the Vietnam War. He received his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. He was a prosecutor in his native Etowah County. He was appointed a Judge by Governor Fob James (R). He was twice elected as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
Moore was removed from office by the Court of the Judiciary for failing to obey a federal judges’ order to remove the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court Building. Moore is the founder of the Foundation for Moral Law. Moore has run for Governor twice and failed to win the Republican nomination. In his second tour as Chief Justice Moore was suspended for the remainder of his term of office by the Court of the Judiciary for failing to order Alabama Probate Judges to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.
Moore won the 2017 Republican Senate nomination, despite being outspent ten to one, in 2017. Moore narrowly lost the general election to Doug Jones in December 2017. The personal attacks on Moore were entirely unprecedented and were reported nationwide.
Judge Moore officially announced his candidacy in late June, followed shortly by Secretary of State John H. Merrill (R). State Representative Arnold Mooney announced his candidacy in May. Stanley Adair, Coach Tommy Tuberville, and Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-Montrose) announced even earlier than that. Sessions still has not qualified and as of press time, has not announced.
The deadline to qualify for both major parties is November 8.
The Republican primary is March 3, 2020.
