By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Tuesday, former Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn announced his endorsement of Roy Moore for U.S. Senate.
Coburn said, “Men with a backbone of steel are hard to find these days, and even harder to find in the US Senate. I proudly endorse Judge Moore because we need him to be a conservative voice in the senate. He is a man who can’t be bought, who won’t fall in line with the Washington establishment and who will stand up for what he believes in. Judge Moore has served his country in Vietnam, and now he is answering the call again to serve his country in Washington.”
Moore thanked Coburn: “I thank Senator Coburn for his endorsement. Senator Coburn was a true champion of conservative values in the senate. I am honored to have his support, and look forward to carrying on the tradition of principled statesmanship he exemplified.”
Coburn lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma, with his wife, Carolyn. He served in the U.S. Senate from 2005 to 2010, and he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001.
The bitter battle for the Republican nomination has only two weeks remaining before the vote on Sept. 26.
Sen Luther Strange, R-Ala., said in an email, “This is it. We’re heading down the final stretch. We are now only two weeks away from Election Day. In just 14 days Alabamians will decide if they want a Senator who will support President Trump in building the wall and bringing back American jobs, or if they want someone who will be an obstacle to the President.”
However, the Moore campaign claims that Moore is the one who truly embraces President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda and claims that Strange is a “swamp monster” too entrenched with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and it points to Strange’s decades of work as a highly paid lobbyist in Washington as evidence that he represents the entrenched establishment elites rather than the conservative grassroots.
Coburn is among a growing number of members of Congress, the Alabama Legislature and conservative-thought leaders who have endorsed Moore.
Then Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange was appointed to the U.S. Senate earlier this year by former Gov. Robert Bentley to fill the vacancy created by Trump’s appointment of Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general. Bentley later resigned to avoid being impeached by the Alabama Legislature for his alleged ethical and campaign finance improprieties. Former Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey changed Bentley’s timetable for the special election from June 5, 2018, for major party primaries with a November 2018 general election to Aug. 15, 2017, primaries and a Dec. 12, 2017, special general election. This much shorter timetable has made it more difficult for Strange to become entrenched in the office.
