U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore leaves the stage after speaking at the RSA activity center, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Moore did not concede defeat to his Democratic opponent Doug Jones.... (Associated Press) 
 
 U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore leaves the stage after speaking at the RSA activity center, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Moore did not concede defeat to his Democratic opponent Doug Jones. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) (Associated Press) 
 
 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on Alabama's U.S. Senate election (all times local): 
 
 10:40 p.m. 
 
 Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is not conceding to Democrat Doug Jones, telling campaign supporters "it's not over." 
 
 "It's going to take some time," the candidate says during a brief appearance before supporters. 
 
 Campaign chairman Bill Armistead says that because the vote is close and approaching the state's recount requirement, "we do not have a final decision on the outcome." 
 
 Alabama state law calls for a recount if the margin of victory is less than one-half of one percentage point. With all precincts reporting, Jones leads by 1.5 percentage points — three times what's required to trigger a recount. 
 
 If the secretary of state determines there were more write-in votes than the difference between Jones and Moore, the state's counties would be required to tally those votes. It's not clear how that would help Moore, who ended the night trailing Jones by more than 20,000 votes. 
 
 __ 
 
 10:10 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump has congratulated Democrat Doug Jones on a "hard fought" win in Alabama, adding Republicans will have "another shot" at the Senate seat. 
 
 Trump backed Republican Roy Moore in the race, despite the multiple allegations of sexual impropriety against Moore. Trump cited the need for GOP votes on his legislative agenda. 
 
 Trump says on Twitter, "The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win." 
 
 Jones' victory will narrow the Senate Republican majority to 51-49. His term lasts until January 2021. 
 
 __ 
 
 10:05 p.m. 
 
 Alabama senator-elect Doug Jones says his victory over Republican Roy Moore in Tuesday's special election marks a moment for national unity. 
 
 "I have always believed that the people of Alabama have more in common than divides us," Moore tells supporters at his campaign victory rally. "We have shown the country the way that we can be." 
 
 Jones, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, says he is "overwhelmed" by his upset win over Moore, who faced multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment. 
 
 "At the end of the day, this entire race has been about dignity and respect," Jones says. 
 
 Jones says his campaign was about "finding common ground," and is encouraging lawmakers in Washington to work together to fund the children's health insurance program before he is seated. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10 p.m. 
 
 Democrat Doug Jones' upset win in Alabama's Senate race has exposed the divisions within the GOP, pitting the establishment against former White House strategist Steve Bannon. 
 
 Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida says in a tweet: "The people of #Alabama put country first tonight by rejecting the disgusting Roy Moore. Congratulations to the Bannon wing of the @GOP for gifting a seat to @SenateDems in one of the reddest states. You have no future in our country's politics." 
 
 Bannon had backed Republican Roy Moore. Washington Republicans had favored Sen. Luther Strange and had called on Moore to step aside when allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. 
 
 __ 
 
 9:55 p.m. 
 
 Gleeful Senate Democrats are welcoming Doug Jones' upset win in Alabama's special election. 
 
 "Hot Damn," tweeted New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan. 
 
 "Thank you Alabama!" tweeted Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. 
 
 Jones on Tuesday stunned Republican Roy Moore, who faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Once sworn in, Jones will serve the remainder of former Sen. Jeff Sessions' term through 2020. 
 
 Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who faces re-election next year, says: "I am grateful to the women who had the courage to come forward. Because of them and so many others like them, we are seeing meaningful change. I look forward to finding opportunities to work with Doug Jones in the Senate to support middle-class families." 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:50 p.m. 
 
 Democratic Party chairman Tom Perez says Alabama senator-elect Doug Jones "made history" Tuesday when he defeated Republican Roy Moore in the Alabama special election. 
 
 "This election wasn't about right versus left, it was about right versus wrong," Perez says. Moore faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, but retained the backing of President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee. 
 
 Perez argues that Alabama voters didn't just reject Moore, but "embraced Doug Jones and the Democratic Party's vision for a brighter future." 
 
 He says, "They joined millions of voters across the country who are standing up to Donald Trump and the GOP's radical agenda by making their voices heard and electing Democrats up and down the ballot." 
 
 Democrats are hoping the upset victory to give them momentum for the 2018 midterm elections. 
 
 __ 
 
 9:45 p.m. 
 
 Alabama Republican Roy Moore's campaign manager says the candidate is not yet conceding the U.S. Senate race. 
 
 Rich Hobson told a somber crowd at Moore's election night gathering that: "Some people are calling it. We are not calling it." 
 
 The Associated Press declared at 9:24 p.m. that Democrat Doug Jones had won election to the U.S. Senate seat from Alabama. 
 
 Hobson says the margin is thin and there are still votes to be counted. He is asking Moore's supporters to pray. 
 
 __ 
 
 9:40 p.m. 
 
 Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is praising Alabama senator-elect Doug Jones after his upset victory in Tuesday's special election. 
 
 "Doug Jones will be an outstanding senator who will represent Alabama well," Schumer says. "He was a great candidate and will be an even better senator." 
 
 Calling Republican Roy Moore, who faced multiple accusations of sexual impropriety, "an awful candidate," Schumer is seeking to tout Democratic momentum going into the 2018 midterm elections. 
 
 "Make no mistake about it, just like in Virginia, Democrats are energized, focused on the middle class and those struggling to get there, and things are looking better and better for 2018," he says. 
 
 __ 
 
 9:35 p.m. 
 
 The chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee says Democrat Doug Jones' victory in the Alabama special election was a referendum on defeated GOP candidate Roy Moore. 
 
 "Tonight's results are clear — the people of Alabama deemed Roy Moore unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate," says Sen. Cory Gardner, who withdrew his committee's endorsement of Moore following allegations of sexual misconduct. 
 
 The NRSC declined to back Moore after President Donald Trump re-endorsed the embattled candidate in the waning days of the campaign. 
 
 "I hope Senator-elect Doug Jones will do the right thing and truly represent Alabama by choosing to vote with the Senate Republican Majority," Gardner says. 
 
 __ 
 
 9:24 p.m. CST 
 
 Democrat Doug Jones has won election to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, dealing a political blow to President Donald Trump. 
 
 Jones has defeated Republican Roy Moore, a one-time GOP pariah who was embraced by the Republican Party and the president even after facing allegations of sexual impropriety. 
 
 An attorney and former prosecutor, Jones rallied voters on a message of moving past the Moore controversies. He was buoyed by an influx of national Democratic cash and endorsements. 
 
 Jones' victory is set to narrow the slim Republican majority over Democrats in the Senate to 51-49. His win in the Republican stronghold energizes the Democratic Party as it looks to build on anti-Trump sentiment to mount a challenge next year to Republican control of Congress. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:40 p.m. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore has briefly greeted an optimistic crowd at his election night party in Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 Moore shook hands with supporters after they chanted, "Judge Roy Moore." He then left to watch returns in another room. 
 
 His campaign manager told the crowd that Moore would soon have the new title of senator. 
 
 With about half the vote counted, the Alabama Senate race between Moore and Democrat Doug Jones is too close to call. 
 
 Moore is looking for support in rural areas and party loyalty from Republicans to carry him to victory. 
 
 Jones is attempting to become the first Alabama Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in 25 years. 
 
 __ 
 
 7:10 p.m. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore's supporters are expressing optimism as polls close in Alabama. 
 
 Supporters filed into Moore's election night party in Montgomery shortly before polls closed at 7 p.m. 
 
 "Watch party? It's a victory party," Moore campaign manager Rich Hobson told the crowd. 
 
 Becky Gerritson, the leader of a nearby tea party group, says sexual misconduct allegations against Moore have caused his supporters to rally around him harder. 
 
 "We're seeing his supporters digging in and they're pumped up," Gerritson said. 
 
 Reporters at Moore's election night party were kept behind a barricade in the back of the ballroom. 
 
 __ 
 
 7 p.m. 
 
 Polls are closed in Alabama in the race to fill the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. 
 
 At time of national reckoning over long-suppressed misconduct by powerful men, the choice between Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones has taken on outsized significance. Moore has faced allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers, dividing the GOP and giving Democrats hope of picking up a seat in a reliably red state. 
 
 President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee broke with top congressional leaders in standing by Moore despite the accusations, wagering that maintaining the seat in the Republican stronghold was of paramount importance. 
 
 Democrats are hoping to break their 0-5 streak in special elections for Republican-held seats in 2017, and looking for momentum heading into the 2018 midterm elections. 
 
 __ 
 
 4:30 p.m. 
 
 Alabama Republican Roy Moore's campaign says The Washington Post is not being let into his election night gathering in Montgomery. 
 
 The Post first reported the allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore. 
 
 Moore campaign spokeswoman Hannah Ford confirmed the newspaper is not being granted press credentials. The campaign told the newspaper it had reviewed its request and was denying them. 
 
 Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in Tuesday's election for a U.S. Senate seat. 
 
 __ 
 
 3:45 p.m. 
 
 There are signs of heightened security at Republican Roy Moore's election night gathering in the Alabama race for U.S. Senate. 
 
 Men in SWAT uniforms videoed the exterior of the building where Moore's party is being held in Montgomery. 
 
 Campaign spokeswoman Hannah Ford said the campaign had previously received threats. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, a Department of Homeland Security official said the agency is keeping an eye on the election. 
 
 The agency's top infrastructure and cybersecurity official said a federal protective security adviser and a cybersecurity adviser are in Montgomery and working "side by side" with state government officials in case issues arise. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2 p.m. 
 
 The Department of Homeland Security is keeping its eye on Alabama's special U.S. Senate election. 
 
 The agency's top infrastructure and cybersecurity official says a federal protective security adviser and a cybersecurity adviser are in the capital city of Montgomery and working "side by side" with state government officials in case issues arise. 
 
 Christopher Krebs says he's not aware of any specific threats. But he says DHS has been working with the state "for quite some time" to prepare for any issues. 
 
 It's part of a larger effort to better share threat information and provide technical support after DHS concluded Russian government hackers targeted election systems in 21 states last year. 
 
 Krebs says: "We learned our lessons last year." 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:55 p.m. 
 
 Voter turnout appears heavier than expected in one of Alabama's most reliably Republican counties in the U.S. Senate election, and officials say they're not just seeing the usual GOP crowd. 
 
 Shelby County Probate Judge Jim Fuhrmeister says turnout appears higher than normal among young people and black voters in Tuesday's balloting. That could help Democrat Doug Jones against Republican Roy Moore. 
 
 Democrats have a table outside one of the county's largest voting precincts in Helena, and volunteers from the Jones campaign are canvassing neighborhoods in normally Republican areas. 
 
 Fuhrmeister says he isn't predicting a Democratic win, but he expects the party to see some results for its efforts. 
 
 Shelby County, just south of Birmingham, is one of Alabama's most affluent counties. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:50 a.m. 
 
 Republican candidate Roy Moore rode his horse to the polls as he's done in past elections to cast his ballot in the U.S. Senate race. 
 
 Moore was accompanied by his wife Kayla Moore, also on horseback, as he voted at a rural fire station in the northeast Alabama community of Gallant on Tuesday. 
 
 Dozens of members of the media surrounded the couple, making it difficult for them to get through on their horses. 
 
 Moore spoke briefly to reporters, talking in generalities and not discussing allegations that he sexually molested teenage girls decades ago. 
 
 Moore expressed confidence that he will win. 
 
 He also said that after the election will be the time to discuss whether he's allowed to take a seat in the Senate. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:15 a.m. 
 
 U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he cast an absentee ballot in Tuesday's special Senate election in Alabama but declined to specify his choice, saying he "valued the sanctity of the ballot." 
 
 At a Tuesday news conference in Baltimore on gang violence and immigration, Sessions said Alabama residents are "good and decent and wonderful" people. He said he's confident they will make the right decision. 
 
 Alabama voters are deciding between Republican Roy Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and Democrat Doug Jones, a lawyer who prosecuted two Ku Klux Klansmen who killed four black girls in a 1963 church bombing. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teen girls when he was in his 30s. Moore denies the accusations. 
 
 The winner of Tuesday's election will take the seat previously held by Sessions. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:55 a.m. 
 
 Democratic nominee Doug Jones was met by cheering supporters as he cast his ballot in Alabama's U.S. Senate race. 
 
 Jones smiled and waved as he arrived at his voting precinct in the wealthy Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook on Tuesday. 
 
 Poll workers at the church where he voted complained that so many news reporters were on hand that voters were having a hard time parking. 
 
 Jones says he feels good about the campaign he's run and he doesn't think Republican Roy Moore is going to win. 
 
 Jones said, "This is an important time in Alabama's history, and we feel very confident where we are and how this is going to turn out." 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:25 a.m. 
 
 Alabama's top election official estimates that turnout for the hotly contested U.S. Senate election now underway will likely be around 18 to 20 percent of registered voters. 
 
 Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill tells The Associated Press there's also a chance that turnout for the special election could be as high as 25 percent. 
 
 Voting places opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday and will remain open until 7 p.m. 
 
 Cool temperatures were common across Alabama when voting began and the state is expected to see dry weather all day during voting. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in Tuesday's election. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Moore is now 70 and denies the charges. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:45 a.m. 
 
 More than two dozen people stood in line in the chilly morning air at Legion Field, a predominantly black precinct in Birmingham, after polls opened at 7 a.m. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones have both reached out to minority voters during their contentious campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. 
 
 Political observers believe that Jones needs heavy turnout among African-American voters in order to win on Tuesday. 
 
 The Legion Field precinct is in a stadium office, where blue-tinted posters of local college football players and cheerleaders lined one of the walls. About 20 Doug Jones campaign signs were planted in the ground near the parking lot where voters were driving in to vote. There were no Roy Moore signs. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7 a.m. 
 
 Polls have opened across Alabama in the state's closely watched U.S. Senate election, which has drawn national attention. 
 
 Voting places opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday and will remain open until 7 p.m. 
 
 Cool temperatures were common across Alabama shortly before voting began and the state is expected to see dry weather all day during Tuesday's voting. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in Tuesday's election. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teen girls when he was in his 30s. Moore is now 70 and denies the charges. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:45 a.m. 
 
 An internationally watched Senate election is down to Alabama voters. 
 
 The controversies surrounding Republican Roy Moore give Democrat Doug Jones an opening in the GOP-dominated state. Polls open Tuesday morning. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teen girls when he was in his 30s. Moore is now 70 and denies the charges. He's telling voters they know his character already. 
 
 Jones is saying decency must prevail. He's urging Alabama voters to see the race as a crossroads with an opportunity to avoid repeating past mistakes that harm the state's image. 
 
 No Democrat has won an Alabama Senate seat since 1992. That was Sen. Richard Shelby. He's now a Republican who says he didn't vote for Moore. ||||| Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore talks to the media as he arrives to vote, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Gallant, Ala. Alabama voters are deciding between Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama... (Associated Press) 
 
 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore talks to the media as he arrives to vote, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Gallant, Ala. Alabama voters are deciding between Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and Democrat Doug Jones. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) (Associated Press) 
 
 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on Alabama's U.S. Senate election (all times local): 
 
 9:24 p.m. CST 
 
 Democrat Doug Jones has won election to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, dealing a political blow to President Donald Trump. 
 
 Jones has defeated Republican Roy Moore, a one-time GOP pariah who was embraced by the Republican Party and the president even after facing allegations of sexual impropriety. 
 
 An attorney and former prosecutor, Jones rallied voters on a message of moving past the Moore controversies. He was buoyed by an influx of national Democratic cash and endorsements. 
 
 Jones' victory is set to narrow the slim Republican majority over Democrats in the Senate to 51-49. His win in the Republican stronghold energizes the Democratic Party as it looks to build on anti-Trump sentiment to mount a challenge next year to Republican control of Congress. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:40 p.m. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore has briefly greeted an optimistic crowd at his election night party in Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 Moore shook hands with supporters after they chanted, "Judge Roy Moore." He then left to watch returns in another room. 
 
 His campaign manager told the crowd that Moore would soon have the new title of senator. 
 
 With about half the vote counted, the Alabama Senate race between Moore and Democrat Doug Jones is too close to call. 
 
 Moore is looking for support in rural areas and party loyalty from Republicans to carry him to victory. 
 
 Jones is attempting to become the first Alabama Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in 25 years. 
 
 __ 
 
 7:10 p.m. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore's supporters are expressing optimism as polls close in Alabama. 
 
 Supporters filed into Moore's election night party in Montgomery shortly before polls closed at 7 p.m. 
 
 "Watch party? It's a victory party," Moore campaign manager Rich Hobson told the crowd. 
 
 Becky Gerritson, the leader of a nearby tea party group, says sexual misconduct allegations against Moore have caused his supporters to rally around him harder. 
 
 "We're seeing his supporters digging in and they're pumped up," Gerritson said. 
 
 Reporters at Moore's election night party were kept behind a barricade in the back of the ballroom. 
 
 __ 
 
 7 p.m. 
 
 Polls are closed in Alabama in the race to fill the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. 
 
 At time of national reckoning over long-suppressed misconduct by powerful men, the choice between Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones has taken on outsized significance. Moore has faced allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers, dividing the GOP and giving Democrats hope of picking up a seat in a reliably red state. 
 
 President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee broke with top congressional leaders in standing by Moore despite the accusations, wagering that maintaining the seat in the Republican stronghold was of paramount importance. 
 
 Democrats are hoping to break their 0-5 streak in special elections for Republican-held seats in 2017, and looking for momentum heading into the 2018 midterm elections. 
 
 __ 
 
 4:30 p.m. 
 
 Alabama Republican Roy Moore's campaign says The Washington Post is not being let into his election night gathering in Montgomery. 
 
 The Post first reported the allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore. 
 
 Moore campaign spokeswoman Hannah Ford confirmed the newspaper is not being granted press credentials. The campaign told the newspaper it had reviewed its request and was denying them. 
 
 Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in Tuesday's election for a U.S. Senate seat. 
 
 __ 
 
 3:45 p.m. 
 
 There are signs of heightened security at Republican Roy Moore's election night gathering in the Alabama race for U.S. Senate. 
 
 Men in SWAT uniforms videoed the exterior of the building where Moore's party is being held in Montgomery. 
 
 Campaign spokeswoman Hannah Ford said the campaign had previously received threats. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, a Department of Homeland Security official said the agency is keeping an eye on the election. 
 
 The agency's top infrastructure and cybersecurity official said a federal protective security adviser and a cybersecurity adviser are in Montgomery and working "side by side" with state government officials in case issues arise. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2 p.m. 
 
 The Department of Homeland Security is keeping its eye on Alabama's special U.S. Senate election. 
 
 The agency's top infrastructure and cybersecurity official says a federal protective security adviser and a cybersecurity adviser are in the capital city of Montgomery and working "side by side" with state government officials in case issues arise. 
 
 Christopher Krebs says he's not aware of any specific threats. But he says DHS has been working with the state "for quite some time" to prepare for any issues. 
 
 It's part of a larger effort to better share threat information and provide technical support after DHS concluded Russian government hackers targeted election systems in 21 states last year. 
 
 Krebs says: "We learned our lessons last year." 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:55 p.m. 
 
 Voter turnout appears heavier than expected in one of Alabama's most reliably Republican counties in the U.S. Senate election, and officials say they're not just seeing the usual GOP crowd. 
 
 Shelby County Probate Judge Jim Fuhrmeister says turnout appears higher than normal among young people and black voters in Tuesday's balloting. That could help Democrat Doug Jones against Republican Roy Moore. 
 
 Democrats have a table outside one of the county's largest voting precincts in Helena, and volunteers from the Jones campaign are canvassing neighborhoods in normally Republican areas. 
 
 Fuhrmeister says he isn't predicting a Democratic win, but he expects the party to see some results for its efforts. 
 
 Shelby County, just south of Birmingham, is one of Alabama's most affluent counties. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:50 a.m. 
 
 Republican candidate Roy Moore rode his horse to the polls as he's done in past elections to cast his ballot in the U.S. Senate race. 
 
 Moore was accompanied by his wife Kayla Moore, also on horseback, as he voted at a rural fire station in the northeast Alabama community of Gallant on Tuesday. 
 
 Dozens of members of the media surrounded the couple, making it difficult for them to get through on their horses. 
 
 Moore spoke briefly to reporters, talking in generalities and not discussing allegations that he sexually molested teenage girls decades ago. 
 
 Moore expressed confidence that he will win. 
 
 He also said that after the election will be the time to discuss whether he's allowed to take a seat in the Senate. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:15 a.m. 
 
 U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he cast an absentee ballot in Tuesday's special Senate election in Alabama but declined to specify his choice, saying he "valued the sanctity of the ballot." 
 
 At a Tuesday news conference in Baltimore on gang violence and immigration, Sessions said Alabama residents are "good and decent and wonderful" people. He said he's confident they will make the right decision. 
 
 Alabama voters are deciding between Republican Roy Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and Democrat Doug Jones, a lawyer who prosecuted two Ku Klux Klansmen who killed four black girls in a 1963 church bombing. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teen girls when he was in his 30s. Moore denies the accusations. 
 
 The winner of Tuesday's election will take the seat previously held by Sessions. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:55 a.m. 
 
 Democratic nominee Doug Jones was met by cheering supporters as he cast his ballot in Alabama's U.S. Senate race. 
 
 Jones smiled and waved as he arrived at his voting precinct in the wealthy Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook on Tuesday. 
 
 Poll workers at the church where he voted complained that so many news reporters were on hand that voters were having a hard time parking. 
 
 Jones says he feels good about the campaign he's run and he doesn't think Republican Roy Moore is going to win. 
 
 Jones said, "This is an important time in Alabama's history, and we feel very confident where we are and how this is going to turn out." 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:25 a.m. 
 
 Alabama's top election official estimates that turnout for the hotly contested U.S. Senate election now underway will likely be around 18 to 20 percent of registered voters. 
 
 Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill tells The Associated Press there's also a chance that turnout for the special election could be as high as 25 percent. 
 
 Voting places opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday and will remain open until 7 p.m. 
 
 Cool temperatures were common across Alabama when voting began and the state is expected to see dry weather all day during voting. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in Tuesday's election. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Moore is now 70 and denies the charges. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:45 a.m. 
 
 More than two dozen people stood in line in the chilly morning air at Legion Field, a predominantly black precinct in Birmingham, after polls opened at 7 a.m. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones have both reached out to minority voters during their contentious campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. 
 
 Political observers believe that Jones needs heavy turnout among African-American voters in order to win on Tuesday. 
 
 The Legion Field precinct is in a stadium office, where blue-tinted posters of local college football players and cheerleaders lined one of the walls. About 20 Doug Jones campaign signs were planted in the ground near the parking lot where voters were driving in to vote. There were no Roy Moore signs. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7 a.m. 
 
 Polls have opened across Alabama in the state's closely watched U.S. Senate election, which has drawn national attention. 
 
 Voting places opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday and will remain open until 7 p.m. 
 
 Cool temperatures were common across Alabama shortly before voting began and the state is expected to see dry weather all day during Tuesday's voting. 
 
 Republican Roy Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in Tuesday's election. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teen girls when he was in his 30s. Moore is now 70 and denies the charges. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:45 a.m. 
 
 An internationally watched Senate election is down to Alabama voters. 
 
 The controversies surrounding Republican Roy Moore give Democrat Doug Jones an opening in the GOP-dominated state. Polls open Tuesday morning. 
 
 Multiple women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct with teen girls when he was in his 30s. Moore is now 70 and denies the charges. He's telling voters they know his character already. 
 
 Jones is saying decency must prevail. He's urging Alabama voters to see the race as a crossroads with an opportunity to avoid repeating past mistakes that harm the state's image. 
 
 No Democrat has won an Alabama Senate seat since 1992. That was Sen. Richard Shelby. He's now a Republican who says he didn't vote for Moore. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Jonathan Allen 
 
 MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Women drew the line at Roy Moore. 
 
 There are many reasons why Moore became the first Republican nominee to lose an Alabama Senate race since 1992 on Tuesday night, including a strong turnout by African-American voters and a lack of enthusiasm among Moore's base. 
 
 But with Moore denying multiple allegations of inappropriate behavior with teenage girls, and attacking his accusers against the backdrop of a national reckoning on sexual misconduct, the most striking aspect of the vote may have been the unmistakable message sent by the women of Alabama about how much was too much. 
 
 Fifty-eight percent of Alabama women voted for the winner, Democrat Doug Jones, including 35 percent of white women, according to exit polling. While that latter figure might not sound like much, it’s more than twice the 16 percent of white Alabama women who voted for President Barack Obama in 2012, the last presidential race in which exit polling was conducted. 
 
 Outside a Montgomery polling place on Tuesday afternoon, Sandra Davis, a self-described independent, said she was tired of her state being the “laughingstock of the nation.” 
 
 “One reason,” she said, when asked why she voted for Jones: He’s “not Roy Moore.” 
 
 Related: Doug Jones is projected winner in Alabama Senate race 
 
 To get to the point where women could put him over the top in one of the most conservative states in the country, Jones needed everything to go right. Just 13 months ago, Donald Trump took 62 percent of the vote in Alabama. 
 
 But every factor lined up in Jones' favor. Moore was a uniquely flawed candidate. Many national Republican leaders — including Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby — abandoned him after the allegations of sexual misconduct arose. Democrats, as they have been in elections across the country since last November, were energized by the chance to strike a blow against President Trump and his agenda. 
 
 A twice-deposed former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore defeated establishment favorite Sen. Luther Strange in a September primary run-off that badly divided the Republican Party both in this state and at the national level. 
 
 He became the latest focal point in a long-running war between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who has made a mission out of toppling sitting senators in primaries and trying to oust McConnell from his job. But Bannon hadn't counted on a group of women stepping forward to accuse Moore of sexually abusing them when they were teenagers, and he hadn't counted on the effect those accusations would have on the women who went to the polls on Tuesday. 
 
 Supporters of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones celebrate as Jones is declared the projected winner during his election night party Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images 
 
 In that way, the result held silver linings for establishment Republicans in Washington. They had warned that Moore, who had long since alienated many moderate GOP voters in the state with his firebrand politics, would leave the seat vulnerable to Democratic takeover. 
 
 “Steve Bannon managed to do the impossible, and he should’ve forever secured a place in the Democratic consultant hall of fame,” Josh Holmes, a former McConnell chief of staff and campaign manager, said in an email exchange with NBC News. “It was thought to be damn near impossible for a Republican to lose the state of Alabama, but Steve Bannon hadn’t run a race there.” 
 
 Tick-tock: A historic election as it unfolded 
 
 Bannon didn’t have an official role with Moore’s campaign, but he was the most forceful advocate for the Republican nominee in national politics, and he headlined two rallies for Moore in the last week. On Friday, Trump, Bannon's old boss, visited Pensacola, Florida, about 15 miles from the Alabama border, and issued a full-throated endorsement of Moore that carried across the state line on cable television. His voice was also ignored by most of the state's women. 
 
 In fact, among both men and women, only 49 percent of voters on Tuesday said they approve of the way Trump is handling his job, according to exit polling. And 52 percent said he wasn’t a factor in their decision in the Senate race. 
 
 Jones’ coalition was built on women, African-Americans, college graduates and younger voters — many of them in and around the metropolitan centers of Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile. Black voters accounted for 28 percent of the electorate, a slightly higher figure than their share of the population. 
 
 Moore won men, whites, less-educated voters and older voters. But he had trouble turning them out in the numbers he needed to win. 
 
 Black women were the most consistent supporters of Jones. And while two-thirds of white women went for Moore, Jones won a much larger share of them than Democratic candidates typically do in Alabama. In the 2012 presidential election, 5 percent of the electorate was made up of white women who voted for Obama. On Tuesday, white women who voted for Jones accounted for more than 10 percent of all voters. In other words, had white women in Alabama voted as they normally do in federal elections, Jones would have lost. 
 
 Zac McCrary, an Alabama-based Democratic pollster, credited Jones with doing the leg work to make sure he took advantage of an energy among Democrats that has been evident in special elections across the country since Trump won the presidency. 
 
 “The Jones' campaign built a real infrastructure and funded it,” McCrary said. “So they poured gasoline on the fire that was already going.” 
 
 But white women who typically support Republican candidates were a key factor in the outcome. Some crossed party lines to vote for Jones and many others simply declined to go to the polls. 
 
 That’s a message that will resonate all the way into the midterm elections of 2018, and beyond.
– It's Doug Jones. The Democrat won election to the Senate from Alabama on Tuesday, dealing a political blow to President Trump, reports the AP. Jones narrowly defeated Republican Roy Moore, a one-time GOP pariah who was embraced by the Republican Party and the president even after facing allegations of sexual impropriety. An attorney and former prosecutor, Jones rallied voters on a message of moving past the Moore controversies. He was buoyed by an influx of national Democratic cash and endorsements. Jones' victory is set to narrow the slim Republican majority over Democrats in the Senate to 51-49. His win in the Republican stronghold energizes the Democratic Party as it looks to build on anti-Trump sentiment to mount a challenge next year to Republican control of Congress. With 92% of votes counted, Jones had 49.5% of the vote to Moore's 48.8%, per CNN, which also called the race for Jones.