Alabama is holding a high-stakes Republican primary for US Senate on Tuesday. Polls closed at 7 p.m. local time.
The race and the stakes:
Former Senate chief of staff Katie Britt will advance to a Republican primary runoff with Rep. Mo Brooks for an open US Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Richard Shelby, a fixture of Alabama politics who represented the state for 36 years.
Former President Donald Trump in April 2021 endorsed Brooks, one of his close allies who aided the attempt to overturn the 2020 election in Congress. He praised Brooks for his "COURAGE and FIGHT" and said, "He will never let you down!"
But, in a rare move, Trump rescinded his endorsement nearly a year later in March 2022 after the congressman struggled with fundraising and lagged in the polls. To justify this move, Trump pointed to Brooks' comments to a crowd in August 2021 when he urged Republicans to put the results of the 2020 election behind them and look to the future.
"When I heard his statement, I said, 'Mo, you just blew the Election, and there's nothing you can do about it,'" Trump said in a statement, pulling his endorsement. "Very sad but, since he decided to go in another direction, so have I, and I am hereby withdrawing my Endorsement of Mo Brooks for the Senate. I don't think the great people of Alabama will disagree with me."
Trump said he would make a new endorsement in the race, but failed to do so, though he was reportedly intrigued by Britt's candidacy, and met with hee at Mar-a-Lago in February.
So far in the election cycle, Brooks has brought in $2.8 million, spent $3.3 million, and has $677,000 on hand. Britt has received $6.8 million, spent nearly $4.8 million, and has $2.8 million cash on hand. Durant reported receiving $10 million, spending $7 million, and having $3 million on hand.
Whichever candidate wins the runoff is certain to win the general election in deep-red Alabama, which voted for Trump by a margin of 25 percentage points in 2020.
Follow Insider's live coverage of all of Tuesday night's primaries here.
Alabama House primaries: