Spotlight: Republican Roy Moore loses Alabama Senate race

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Republican Roy Moore, accused of pursuing and molesting multiple teenage girls while in his 30s, was defeated by his Democrat rival Doug Jones in Alabama's special Senate election on Tuesday.

Jones had 49.5 percent of the vote against Moore's 48.9 percent, with 91 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.

"Thank you, Alabama!" Jones told supporters in a Birmingham hotel ballroom after the result was declared. "I am truly overwhelmed."

"At the end of the day, this entire race has been about dignity and respect. This campaign has been about the rule of law. This campaign has been about common courtesy and decency," Jones told supporters.

The former U.S. attorney became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the deep red southern state since 1992, trimming the Republican Senate majority to 51-49.

His victory was fueled by huge turnouts and near-unanimous support from black voters in Alabama, local analysts said.

The CNN exit poll found 30 percent of the electorate was black and 96 percent of black voters backed Jones.

As a former U.S. attorney, Jones is best known for prosecuting two Ku Klux Klan members decades later for killing four black girls in a 1963 Birmingham church bombing.

Jones ran a low-key, centrist campaign that focused on the "kitchen table" issues of healthcare and economy.

The Democrat victory is seen as a major blow to President Donald Trump, who had endorsed Moore on Twitter, rallied for him last week at a campaign event near the Alabama border, and recorded a robocall the day before the election.

"The people of Alabama will do the right thing. Doug Jones is Pro-Abortion, weak on Crime, Military and Illegal Immigration, Bad for Gun Owners and Veterans and against the WALL," Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. "Roy Moore will always vote with us. VOTE ROY MOORE!"

However, following Jones' victory, Trump's Tuesday night tweet said: "Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win."

"The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!" the president continued on Twitter.

Moore has so far refused to concede defeat.

His defeat may have embarrassed the White House, but offered Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican establishment some relief. They had been worried that Moore's possible win could damage the Republican Party's image and be used against the party during mid-term congressional elections next fall.

Moore has been a controversial figure in Alabama politics for years even before at least nine women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct in recent months. He had denied all the allegations.

Moore was twice removed from the bench as Alabama Supreme Court chief justice. First, it was for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments statue from the state judiciary building. Later, he was re-elected to the court, but soon suspended after he directed state judges to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage.

Exit polls were virtually split as to whether voters believed the allegations against Moore: 49 percent said they were probably or definitely true while 45 percent said they were probably or definitely false. Enditem