Rattled by Donald Trump, Rep. Mo Brooks loses crucial GOP primary runoff

US Representative Mo Brooks, who lost former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, lost the Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama. Brooks lost to Katie Britt, who has never been elected to a public office before.

The loss ends a turbulent campaign that pit Brooks, a conservative firebrand who has spent more than a decade in Congress. He ran under the banner “MAGA Mo” and fully embraced Trump’s election lies.

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However, that was not enough for the former president, who initially backed Brooks in the race to replace Britt’s former boss, retiring Senator Richard Shelby, but then pulled his support as Brooks languished in the polls.  

By the time Trump backed Britt earlier this month, she was already considered the favorite in the race. She emerged as the top vote-getter in the state’s May 24 primary, but just missed the threshold that triggered a runoff. Still, Tuesday’s result gives Trump a win at a time when his clout over the GOP was starting to get questioned.

Britt, 40, cast herself as part of a new generation of conservative leaders while disparaging Brooks, 68, as a career politician, according to Associated Press reports.

If victorious in November, Britt will be the first woman elected to the United States Senate from Alabama and one of its youngest members. The state’s previous female senators had been appointed.

“Alabama has spoken. We want new blood. We want fresh blood,” she said at her victory party on Tuesday.

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She added, “We want someone who will fight for Christian conservative values, who will fight for the freedoms and liberties this nation was founded on and will fight for the American dream for the next generation and the next generation.”

Brooks, who is known for his bombastic oratory style, described the race as a battle for the soul of Republican Party, pitting the “true conservative” wing against establishment members of the GOP.