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But he fell out of favor with the President and became a target of Trump’s attacks after he recused himself while serving as attorney general from the FBI probe into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.
Sessions is trying to make a political comeback but is now an underdog in the fight for his old job after losing the support of the President.
The race advanced to a runoff after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in a crowded GOP primary in March. Tuberville and Sessions made it to the runoff after ending up as the the top two finishers with Tuberville narrowly edging out Sessions for first place.
Whoever prevails on Tuesday will go on to face incumbent Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, who pulled off an upset in the deep red state in a 2017 special election after Sessions left the Senate to serve in the Trump administration. Jones is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat facing reelection in 2020. As a result, the race is likely to be the Republican Party’s best pick-up opportunity of the year.
Sessions still commands a strong, conservative following, but throughout most of the runoff, Tuberville has led Sessions in the polls. Tuberville has repeated Trump’s slogans like “drain the swamp” and “build the wall” while reminding potential supporters of his winning tenure at Auburn from 1999 to 2008. Sessions, on the other hand, has tried to make an issue of Tuberville’s residency, calling him a “tourist” who moved from Florida to run for Senate and “an empty suit” who has hidden from the public.
But that may not be a match for losing the President’s endorsement.
“Really successful coach,” Trump said of Tuberville. “Beat Alabama, like six in a row, but we won’t even mention that. As he said … because of that, maybe we got ’em Lou Saban … And he’s great, Lou Saban, what a great job he’s done.”
While Trump was correct in pointing out that Tuberville led Auburn to six straight wins over Alabama between 2002 and 2007, he may have been referring to Lou Saban, the former head coach of the Buffalo Bills in the 1960s who died in 2009.
CNN’s Alex Rogers and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
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