What the Democrats Can Learn From Alabama in 2018
Jones was wary of bringing in national Democrats, such as New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who came to Alabama the weekend before the election.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Even before his upset win in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race, Doug Jones had already pulled off the improbable. His campaign had managed to build up Alabama’s Democratic Party infrastructure from almost nothing and had quietly funneled millions of dollars of outside money into a state wary of both outsiders and Democrats. On the eve of the election, two things were apparent: Jones had cobbled together a diverse coalition of black, independent, and moderate Republican voters, and his fundraising totals were more than double those of opponent Roy Moore, $11.5 million to Moore’s $5.2 million.
Jones’s win, along with Democratic victories in gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, gives Dems momentum heading into the 2018 midterms. To win back both chambers of Congress, they’ll have to flip 24 seats in the House of Representatives, protect 10 Democratic senators in states Trump won, and gain two Senate seats. Doing that depends largely on whether they can transfer what worked for Jones in Alabama to other historically red states.