Trumps Flip Snags Him a Win in Alabama | Politics

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Rep. Mo Brooks was a mega-MAGA man, not only denying the 2020 election results but donning body armor to speak to Donald Trump’s supporters at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, ahead of the insurrection at the Capitol.

But the Alabama congressman was emerging as something else former President Trump famously despises a loser and so Trump withdrew his endorsement of Brooks in the state’s GOP primary for Senate.

Tuesday night, Trump got a pragmatic win, if not an ideological one, as Katie Britt, former chief of staff to a senator that Trump has derided as an insufficiently loyal “RINO” (Republican in Name Only), easily bested Brooks in a runoff election Tuesday night for the GOP nomination.

Trump had endorsed loyalist Brooks, a six-term congressman, in April 2021, but rescinded his backing as Brooks campaign struggled. Brooks also angered Trump by saying the country should move on from the 2020 election and focus more on the 2022 and 2024 races.

The former president, whose midterm endorsees have a mixed record this election season, then threw his support behind Britt, even though he had derided her former boss. Sen. Richard Shelby, as a “RINO.”

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Shelby voted to certify the 2020 election results that made Joe Biden president. He and Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell were the only members of the Alabama congressional delegation who voted to confirm the election results.

“The electors voted 306 for Joe Biden and 232 for Donald Trump, thereby making Joe Biden the official President-elect,” Shelby told al.com in December 2020, after all the results were counted and recounted. “While I wish it would have yielded a different outcome, its time to move on.

Trump’s switch to endorse Britt enraged many in conservative Republican circles, with Fox news host Mark Levin calling it a “gut punch” and Britt a “disaster” before her win. MAGA movement leaders Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity backed Brooks until the end, as did Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul visited Alabama on Brooks’ behalf last Friday.

No Republican had won an outright majority in the May primary in Alabama. With 89% of the vote reported Tuesday evening, Britt won with 63% of the vote, compared to 37% for Brooks.

Britt’s win aggravates some of Trump’s base but spares the former president of a high-profile embarrassment. While Trump’s endorsees have won key primaries for Senate in Pennsylvania and Ohio, they have lost in other marquee races.

In Georgia on Tuesday night, two Trump-endorsed candidates for House seats Jake Evans and Vernon Jones lost. Rich McCormick in the 6th District and Mike Collins in the 10th District won those primaries easily in runoffs.

That follows higher-profile and much more personal losses for Trump in Georgia this election season, as Republicans who refused to help Trump overturn Biden’s win in the Peach State won their primaries.

Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp was renominated in May despite Trump’s aggressive campaign to oust him and nominate former Sen. David Perdue. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger whom Trump asked to “find” enough votes to make the former president the winner in Georgia also won his May primary without a runoff. Raffensperger testified Tuesday before the House Jan. 6 committee, detailing how Trump tried to pressure the Georgia official to reverse the election results and recounting the threats to himself and his family after he refused to comply.

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