Political blow for Trump as Democrat wins Alabama Senate seat

Democrat Doug Jones won a bitter fight for a US Senate seat in deeply conservative Alabama, dealing a political blow to President Donald Trump in a race marked by sexual misconduct accusations against Republican candidate Roy Moore.

The stunning upset by Jones makes him the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from Alabama in a quarter-century and will trim the Republicans' already narrow Senate majority to 51-49, endangering Trump's agenda and opening the door for Democrats to possibly retake the chamber in next year's congressional elections.

With 99 percent of the vote counted, Jones had a 1.5 percentage-point lead over Moore. But the Republican refused to concede, telling supporters in Montgomery that votes were still coming in and state law would trigger a recount if the margin was within half a percent.

In a CNN interview, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said it was "highly unlikely" that anything would change the election outcome. "The people of Alabama have spoken," he said.

The ugly campaign drew national attention and split the Republican Party over accusations from several women that Moore pursued them when they were teens and he was in his 30s.

Moore, 70,...