Former Auburn football coach and Republican Senate candidate Tommy Tuberville: Facebook

By Glynn Wilson –

In a significant blow to Alabama’s Jeff Sessions and his comeback attempt to regain his old seat in the United States Senate, President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday endorsed his opponent in the Republican primary runoff, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.

While just a week after the vote on Super Tuesday, the president said Tuberville “will be a great senator for the people of Alabama.” That is, if he goes on to beat Sessions in the March 31 runoff, and is enough of a politician to make the transition from out of work football coach to federal office holder. He has never held any government position before, and he will face incumbent Senator Doug Jones in the general election November 3.

Jones has built up a lot of institutional support over the past three years across the state by showing up and doing the job, and he’s still popular with mainstream Democrats, Republicans and independents who are tired of all the crazy, divisive politics by tweet. There was no immediate reaction to Trump’s endorsement from Senator Doug Jones or his reelection campaign staff.

Trump’s tweet came as an unsurprising development and potential knockout punch to Sessions, who had tried to run a campaign claiming he was the candidate most closely aligned with Trump’s positions. But Sessions was fired by Trump as attorney general for doing the legally and ethically right thing by recusing himself from the federal investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, since he had contacts with Russians himself while campaigning for Trump.

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But by stepping aside, his move led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, which became a distracting bone of contention to the president for the next two years even though it ended up with a report that did not recommend indictments of Trump or any members of his family, or impeachment.

Poll Shows Tuberville Leads Sessions

On top of Trump’s endorsement and in another blow to Sessions, a new public opinion survey has Tuberville leading by 12 points in the race, with high positives for Tuberville among likely Republican primary voters in Alabama and high negatives for Sessions.

The new poll conducted on March 6-8 shows Tuberville with 52 percent support of likely Republican primary voters and Sessions with only 40 percent.

“Starting at a 12-point deficit is going to be a big hurdle for Sessions to get over, especially if he continues to draw the ire – and tweets – of the President,” said Chris Kratzer, Cygnal’s vice president of research and analysis.

Tuberville won the March 3 primary with 33 of the vote to Sessions’ 32 percent, prompting Trump to tweet the next day, “This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn’t have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt. Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!”

Sessions’ unfavorability has continued to increase among Republican voters over the course of the primary season, according to Brent Buchanan, Cygnal’s CEO.

“Now that Trump has gotten involved, it’s unlikely the former attorney general will be able to overcome the gap in how voters see Tuberville’s as more strongly favorable,” Buchanan said. “Trump may not be able to pull a candidate across the finish line, but he sure can keep a candidate from getting there first.”

The survey asked voters if they believed the pesident was opposed to Sessions in the Senate race. Forty-five percent of respondents said yes, while only 16 percent disagreed. Of the 45 percent, 67 percent say they plan to vote for Tuberville.

The news was also a blow to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who put a lot of money behind Sessions in the race, and to Senator Richard Shelby of Tuscaloosa, who endorsed Sessions.

Tuberville reacted to Trump’s endorsement on Twitter.

BREAKING NEWS: @realDonaldTrump officially endorsed my campaign for U.S. Senate. Help me finish what the President started and fire Jeff Sessions on March 31st. Can you donate $5 today and help us win? #MAGAhttps://t.co/GX6Sb08RQj pic.twitter.com/BelrdP76yN

— Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) March 11, 2020