Jeff Sessions was easily defeated by former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville in Tuesday night’s primary in the Alabama Senate.
With nearly 70 percent of the results, Tuberville led the former attorney general by a staggering 24 percentage points.
Sessions had been seeking to regain the seat in the United States Senate that he had before resigning in 2017 to become President Trump’s attorney general.
The 73-year-old president’s tenure under Trump was marred by constant criticism from the president after he refused to supervise Russia’s investigation of special adviser Robert Mueller. Trump fired Sessions shortly after the 2018 midterm elections.
Tuberville, who was backed by Trump, will face current Senator Doug Jones in the November primary.
The president celebrated Tuberville’s victory in a tweet Tuesday night.
“Wow, I just called! @TTuberville – Tommy Tuberville WON big against Jeff Sessions, ”wrote Trump. “He will be a GREAT Senator for the amazing people of Alabama.”
Trump, in his tweet, criticized Jones as “a terrible senator who is just a super liberal puppet for Schumer and Pelosi” and said the legislator “misrepresents Alabama.”
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