Republican Sen. Bob Corker 'really, really happy' that Democrat Doug Jones won in Alabama

WASHINGTON – Count Republican Sen. Bob Corker among those celebrating Democrat Doug Jones’ stunning upset victory in the Alabama Senate election.

Corker, a Tennessean who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters Wednesday that he’s “really, really happy” that Jones defeated controversial conservative Roy Moore.

“I know we’re supposed to cheer for our side of the aisle, if you will,” Corker said. “But I’m really, really happy with what happened for all of us in our nation, for people serving in the Senate, to not have to deal with what we were likely going to have to deal with should the outcome have been the other way.”

In a follow-up interview with USA TODAY, Corker said Moore’s defeat “was best for our country, was best for the Republican Party and certainly best for the United States Senate.”

“Obviously, I hate to lose a seat that almost any Republican could have won,” he said. “And obviously, it makes it more difficult on our side of the aisle to govern with one less seat. But I think under the circumstances, it certainly was a good outcome for our country, for Republicans in general and the United States Senate.”

Jones, a former U.S. attorney, defeated Moore in a close special election to become Alabama's first Democratic senator in 25 years.

Jones won with a margin of not quite 2 percentage points, narrowly besting Moore, a controversial former Alabama Supreme Court justice who faced allegations that he had molested or pursued relationships with teenage girls in the 1970s when he was in his 30s and an assistant district attorney.

Following the reports, a number of prominent Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Moore should drop out of the Senate race if the allegations against him are true.

“I thought before any of this reporting came out over the last couple of months with the Republican nominee that he was a bridge too far,” Corker said Wednesday.

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