Darla Roy Moore has been described as the first woman to ever win an election in Alabama and the first person to win the seat in the U.S. Senate.
Moore’s win Tuesday over Doug Jones in a special election drew a wave of national attention to the state, and many of the women who worked for him as state judges said they wanted to thank him.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support, the people who have supported me in every way,” Moore told The Associated Press, referring to the women.
“They are a very good, large part of this movement.”
Roy Moore was the first Republican to win a Senate seat in Alabama in nearly 50 years.
He’s been endorsed by President Donald Trump and his family, as well as his wife, Kayla.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Moore said, “I am a very, very good mother, wife, and daughter.
I am also very, a very very gentle woman.
I have no regrets.”
Moore is running for a seat he held from 1998 to 2022, when he became a U.N. ambassador.
His opponent, Democrat Doug Jones, is a former prosecutor and the son of an Alabama U.F.O. pilot who is a prominent advocate for LGBT rights.
Jones won the primary by a landslide, winning nearly a quarter of the vote.
In Tuesday’s runoff election, Moore won more than 80 percent of the ballots cast.
The Republican said he hopes to run for the Senate seat again in 2020.
“It’s a very special moment in Alabama,” Moore said.
“This is the first time that I’ve been able to win an American Senate race.”
Moore was elected attorney general in January after serving as Alabama’s attorney general since 2002.
He was a fierce opponent of the legalization of same-sex marriage and the federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks.
His office said Moore’s election would have little impact on the outcome of the race, since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in July that the state’s ban on abortion after 20 to 24 weeks was unconstitutional.
He said in the early days of the campaign that he was not interested in serving as a candidate.
Moore said that he is retiring because he wants to devote more time to his family.
“This is not just about me,” Moore added.
“It’s about the entire family.
This is about our grandchildren.”
Roy Roy Moore and his wife Kayla Moore appear in an AP photo released Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
