Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said Sunday Tuesday’s elections show the party is ready to compete in places around the country, including the Alabama Senate seat thrown into turmoil by allegations against Roy Moore.
Perez said on ABC’s “This Week” the election in Alabama, thought to be a long shot for Democratic candidate Doug Jones, could be in play after a report this week alleging Moore groped a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 and attempted to date three other girls when they were teenagers and he was an adult.
“I think what we learned last Tuesday and what we have learned the months before last Tuesday is that Democrats can compete and win everywhere,” he said.
Snap polls in the wake of the report showed Moore’s lead in the state shrinking, with some polls showing Jones trailing by just one or two points.
It would be a massive loss for the Republican Party in a state that’s as deep red as any in the country. The seat was held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions for decades before President Trump plucked him to be his top law enforcement official.
Jones is relatively unheralded on the national scene, but is best known for prosecuting Klu Klux Klan members in a 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four young black girls.
“Doug Jones is the underdog. No doubt,” Perez said. “We have increased our investment in state parties by a third. When we’re investing in organizing, investing in good candidates, and lead with our values, we can compete anywhere.”
