Doug Jones (politician)
Doug Jones | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2018 | |
| United States Senator from Alabama | |
| In office January 3, 2018 – January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Luther Strange |
| Succeeded by | Tommy Tuberville |
| United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama | |
| In office September 8, 1997 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Claude Harris Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Alice Martin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gordon Douglas Jones May 4, 1954 Fairfield, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Louise New (m. 1992) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Alabama (BS) Samford University (JD) |
| Signature | |
| Website | Campaign website |
Gordon Douglas Jones (born May 4, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Alabama from 2018 to 2021.[1][2] A member of the Democratic Party, Jones was previously the United States attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 1997 to 2001. To date, he is the last Democrat to have won or held statewide office in Alabama.
Jones was born in Fairfield, Alabama, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama and Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. After law school, he worked as a congressional staffer and as a federal prosecutor before moving to private practice. In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed Jones as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. Jones's most prominent cases were the successful prosecution of two Ku Klux Klan members for the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four African-American girls and the indictment of domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph. He returned to private practice at the conclusion of Clinton's presidency in 2001.
Jones announced his candidacy for United States Senate in the 2017 special election following the resignation of Republican incumbent Jeff Sessions to become U.S. Attorney General. After winning the Democratic primary in August, he faced former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore in the general election. Jones was considered a long-shot candidate in a deeply Republican state. A month before the election, Moore was alleged to have sexually assaulted and otherwise acted inappropriately with several women, including some who were minors at the time.[3] Jones won the special election by 22,000 votes, 50%–48%.[4] Jones ran for a full term in 2020 and lost to Republican nominee Tommy Tuberville in a landslide. His margin of defeat was the largest of an incumbent senator since 2010.[5]
In January 2021, he joined CNN as a political commentator.[6] Jones was a fellow at the Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service during the spring 2021 academic semester, and was a distinguished Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics during the fall of 2022.[7] In February 2022, the Biden administration named him as a nomination advisor for legislative affairs, advising the president on Supreme Court nominations.[1]
- ^ a b "President Biden Announces Additional Advisors for Supreme Court Process". The White House. February 2, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ "Doug Jones (@DougJones46)". Twitter. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
- ^ Jacobs, Ben; Smith, David (December 13, 2017). "Alabama election: Democrats triumph over Roy Moore in major blow to Trump". The Guardian. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
- ^ Chandler, Kim; Peoples, Steve (December 13, 2017). "Democrat Jones wins stunning red-state Alabama Senate upset". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
- ^ Clare Foran (November 4, 2020). "Democrat Doug Jones loses Alabama Senate seat to Republican Tommy Tuberville". CNN.
- ^ Lonas, Lexi (January 29, 2021). "Doug Jones joining CNN as political commentator". The Hill. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Doug Jones". Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, Institute of Politics and Public Service. Retrieved April 20, 2021.