WASHINGTON—Roy Moore, currently suspended from his position as the Alabama supreme court’s chief justice, finished at the top of today’s Republican Senate primary in the race to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Because no candidate received 50 percent of the vote, Moore will face Luther Strange in a runoff on September 26.

Moore was suspended last year after PFAW Foundation and other civil rights groups filed an ethics complaint with the Judicial Inquiry Commission over urging 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:

“Seeing Roy Moore’s name at the top of the Republican Senate primary is appalling. His showing is an alarming sign of the disconnect between what many conservatives say and how they act. Moore’s supporters may profess a devotion to the Constitution and rule of law, but they are seeking to elevate a man who defies the rule of law and rejects basic constitutional principles of equality and separation of church and state that are the foundation of our country. The election of Roy Moore would be a disaster for Alabama and for America.”

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.

 ###