Amid an unprecedented number of early votes cast in the 2020 election cycle, Alabama senator Doug Jones is staking his electoral fortunes on framing his re-election campaign around the threat to voting rights, especially in his native deep south.

Jones, a rare Democratic senator in a red southern state, has been sounding the alarm on his state’s burdensome voting restrictions. He’s been dinging his opponent over comments about a landmark voting law and he’s arguing that in an age of high partisanship in America there’s a path for lawmakers to reinforce national voting laws.

Jones, the Alabama Democrat who was elected to his Senate seat in a 2017 upset race, is also calling for a new extension of the Voting Rights Act, the set of voting protections that were gutted in a ruling by the United States supreme court seven years ago. That ruling struck down a core provision of the law which required nine states to seek federal approval before changing their election laws. Those states were required to seek federal permission because of a history of enforcing voter requirements that dramatically affected minorities.

Sen. Doug Jones caught the political equivalent of lightning in a jar when he managed to win a special election as a Democrat in Alabama in 2017 despite years of Republican dominance in statewide elected offices and despite President Donald Trump’s popularity there.

But Jones now might have to snag a second bolt of lightning if the former federal prosecutor has a hope of retaining the seat that he has held for less than three years out of one of the nation’s reddest red states.

Jones, 66, is facing a tough reelection battle against former college football coach Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee.

• Democrat Doug Jones does not wear concerns about climate change on his sleeve but he also has not been afraid to tell conservative voters in his state that it’s a problem. He shook the political landscape in Republican-dominated Alabama when, in a 2017 special election, he became the first Democrat in Alabama to win a Senate seat since 1992.
• In the Republican primary, President Donald Trump degraded his former attorney general Jeff Sessions at every turn; as a result,  retired Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville is now challenging Jones as an unconventional candidate with anti-science views.
• Tuberville does not accept mainstream climate science and has espoused a conspiracy theory about the Green New Deal and the coronavirus pandemic.

• Sen. Doug Jones,the lone Democratic Senator from the Deep South, is running for a full term against Tommy Tuberville in Alabama.
• Jones narrowly won a December 2017 special election to replace former Sen. Jeff Sessions, but now faces much tougher odds against Tuberville.
• Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, has earned President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and easily defeated Sessions in a July runoff.

Amid an unprecedented number of early votes cast in the 2020 election cycle, Alabama senator Doug Jones is staking his electoral fortunes on framing his re-election campaign around the threat to voting rights, especially in his native deep south.

Jones, a rare Democratic senator in a red southern state, has been sounding the alarm on his state’s burdensome voting restrictions. He’s been dinging his opponent over comments about a landmark voting law and he’s arguing that in an age of high partisanship in America there’s a path for lawmakers to reinforce national voting laws.

Jones, the Alabama Democrat who was elected to his Senate seat in a 2017 upset race, is also calling for a new extension of the Voting Rights Act, the set of voting protections that were gutted in a ruling by the United States supreme court seven years ago. That ruling struck down a core provision of the law which required nine states to seek federal approval before changing their election laws. Those states were required to seek federal permission because of a history of enforcing voter requirements that dramatically affected minorities.

Sen. Doug Jones caught the political equivalent of lightning in a jar when he managed to win a special election as a Democrat in Alabama in 2017 despite years of Republican dominance in statewide elected offices and despite President Donald Trump’s popularity there.

But Jones now might have to snag a second bolt of lightning if the former federal prosecutor has a hope of retaining the seat that he has held for less than three years out of one of the nation’s reddest red states.

Jones, 66, is facing a tough reelection battle against former college football coach Tommy Tuberville, the Republican nominee.

• Democrat Doug Jones does not wear concerns about climate change on his sleeve but he also has not been afraid to tell conservative voters in his state that it’s a problem. He shook the political landscape in Republican-dominated Alabama when, in a 2017 special election, he became the first Democrat in Alabama to win a Senate seat since 1992.
• In the Republican primary, President Donald Trump degraded his former attorney general Jeff Sessions at every turn; as a result,  retired Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville is now challenging Jones as an unconventional candidate with anti-science views.
• Tuberville does not accept mainstream climate science and has espoused a conspiracy theory about the Green New Deal and the coronavirus pandemic.

• Sen. Doug Jones,the lone Democratic Senator from the Deep South, is running for a full term against Tommy Tuberville in Alabama.
• Jones narrowly won a December 2017 special election to replace former Sen. Jeff Sessions, but now faces much tougher odds against Tuberville.
• Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, has earned President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and easily defeated Sessions in a July runoff.

Sports and politics are already colliding in Alabama with 105 days to go until the November elections.

After former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville defeated former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in last week’s GOP runoff election for the Alabama Senate seat — the Alabama Democrats pounced on Twitter, hitting on Tuberville’s football shortcomings in response to his election win.