Alabama Senator-elect Doug Jones told his Republican opponent Roy Moore to "move on" after Tuesday's special election, which Moore refuses to concede.
"Well, I understand the frustration a little bit. It is a close race. But I'd say, look, it's time to move on. I mean this is — every race is tough. It's bitter sometimes," Jones said on NBC's "Today" show Thursday morning.
Jones, a Democrat, beat his conservative opponent by only 1.5 percentage points, or about 21,000 votes. Moore has so far refused to concede the election because "we have not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots" and that "we are awaiting certification by the secretary of state," as he said in a video on his campaign's YouTube channel.
I think this one was one that people of Alabama have now spoken a little bit, and they decided to heal," Jones continued. "Our campaign has been about that. It's been about trying to find common ground and heal. And I think he would do well to just go ahead, let's get this behind us, so the people of Alabama can get someone in there and start working for them."
Moore, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, was on track to win the seat until reports emerged that he had sought sexual relationships with teenage girls while a district attorney in his 30's.
Moore denied these reports, but in polls before the election, many voters appeared to believe his accusers over him, possibly handing the race to his opponent. Jones credited his win to "a combination" of people voting for him and people voting against Moore.
"Every election is a combination of your message as well as your opponent's. And in this race, there's no question, we had the wind at our back," Jones said. "Obviously, Roy Moore has his issues, with his record and all of the disturbing allegations. But that's okay. I'm fine with that because if people in this state reject that kind of politics, I think that's a very good thing."
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