Red state Democrat doesn’t think vote to convict Trump will hurt reelection chances

A Democratic senator facing a tough reelection fight in deep-red Alabama said Thursday that his impeachment vote to convict and remove President Donald Trump from office won’t hurt his chances.

Speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead,” Sen. Doug Jones said that while “there are people that are not happy” with his vote, “Alabama is a state that believes in right and wrong.”

Jones represents a state that Trump won in 2016 by more than 27 points. In 2017, Jones beat Roy Moore, a twice-defrocked state Supreme Court justice who had been accused of sexual abuse and sexual assault, by a point and a half. Jones is now running for reelection and will likely face a much tougher Republican opponent this fall.

Pressed on his reelection circumstances in the wake of his vote, Jones implored his constituents to “look at what I have done in just two years in the United States Senate” because “we have been there for the people of Alabama.”

He added that he hoped voters would “listen to how I came to a very, very difficult decision” in voting to convict Trump.

“I think the most sacred thing we have in this country right now is the right to vote and the will of the people. But at the same time, the framers noted that there will be times in our history, just a possibility, that our damage could be more done by a president who embarks on a corrupt course of conduct for his own personal benefit,” Jones said. “And regardless of this vote, I’m prepared to do all I can to let folks know where I am.”

Republicans have said Jones’ decision will be his downfall. The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, released a statement on Jones’ “impending retirement from politics.”

The Senate Republican campaign arm said Jones had “given up” on representing Alabama. And his home state Republican Party said Jones was taking “his marching orders from Chuck Schumer,” the Senate’s Democratic leader.

Jones said Thursday that “for people to say that I’m just part of the left is laughable.”

“Anybody that knows my record and sees my record and understands it knows that I am for the people of Alabama.”