<P> As of December 15, Moore demanded a recount and refused to concede the race, despite being urged by Trump, Bannon, and others to do so . If the final margin of victory is less than 0.5%, then a recount would have been automatically triggered . If not, then either candidate can request a recount at his expense . However, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill estimates that a recount could cost anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million, an amount that must be paid in full when the request is made . Moore had only $636,046 on hand by the time the campaign ended . A number of right - leaning websites have pushed conspiracy theories about voter fraud providing the margin for Jones . Merrill noted on December 20 that the only remaining ballots to count are 366 military ballots and 4,967 provisional ballots left to be counted; even if all those votes were for Moore, the margin would not be sufficient to trigger an automatic recount . </P> <P> Because the number of write - in votes was larger than Jones' margin of victory, the names written in were both counted and listed . Luther Strange, who lost the Republican primary to Moore, received the most write - in votes, followed by former White House aide Lee Busby, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, who also ran in the Republican Senate primary, Libertarian write - in candidate Ron Bishop, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Alabama football coach Nick Saban . </P> <P> After the election, Moore filed a lawsuit attempting to block the state from certifying the election and calling for an investigation into voter fraud . On December 28, 2017, a judge dismissed this lawsuit and state officials certified the election results, officially declaring Doug Jones the winner . Jones was sworn into office on January 3, 2018, by Vice President Mike Pence . Jones became the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Alabama since former Lieutenant Governor Lucy Baxley was elected President of the Alabama Public Service Commission in 2008 over Republican Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh . Prior to that, Democrat Jim Folsom Jr. was elected Lieutenant Governor of Alabama in 2006 over Republican Luther Strange . The last Democrat to win a federal statewide election in Alabama was Richard Shelby in 1992, who switched to the Republican Party in late 1994 . </P> <Table> General election results <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Party </Th> <Th> Candidate </Th> <Th> Votes </Th> <Th>% </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Democratic </Td> <Td> Doug Jones </Td> <Td> 673,896 </Td> <Td> 49.97% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Republican </Td> <Td> Roy Moore </Td> <Td> 651,972 </Td> <Td> 48.34% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Write - in </Td> <Td> Write - ins </Td> <Td> 22,852 </Td> <Td> 1.69% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="3"> Total votes </Td> <Td> 1,348,720 </Td> <Td> 100.0% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="4"> Democratic gain from Republican </Td> </Tr> </Table>

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