WASHINGTON—Roy Moore, who was suspended from his position as the Alabama Supreme Court’s chief justice, won today’s Republican Senate primary runoff in the race to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He will face Democrat Doug Jones in the general election on December 12.

Moore was suspended last year after affiliate PFAW Foundation and other civil rights groups filed an ethics complaint with the Judicial Inquiry Commission over his urging of state judges to defy the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling. Moore was previously removed from the chief justice position for defying a federal court ruling ordering the removal of a Ten Commandments monument he installed in the courthouse rotunda.

People For the American Way President Michael Keegan released the following statement:

“Roy Moore’s win continues the alarming lurch toward extremist candidates across the country. His win also gives the lie to Republican voters’ respect for adherence to the Constitution, because Roy Moore routinely defies the rule of law and rejects fundamental constitutional principles. He has spent years advocating for the defiance of federal court rulings that he deems to be against his own personal beliefs. This is an extremely dangerous position for an elected official to hold. Make no mistake: Moore is a dangerous ideologue and his win was boosted by the kind of bigotry and hate that Steve Bannon, Breitbart and their extreme allies spew every day.”

More information on Moore’s long record of bigotry and extremism is available at RightWingWatch.org.

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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