Roy Moore announces he will run for U.S. Senate in 2020

In announcing his candidacy, Moore on Thursday defied national GOP leaders eager to keep him out of the contest after his narrow defeat in 2017 to Sen.

Republican Roy Moore had a failed run in 2017 amid sexual abuse allegations. These are allegations the failed Senate candidate continues to deny.

That support from evangelical voters, along with his name recognition from past races, propelled him to the GOP primary victory in 2017 and could make him a formidable primary candidate again in 2020.

Alabama Republican Roy Moore, whose 2017 U.S. Senate bid was derailed by allegations of decades-old sexual misconduct involving teenage girls, said on Thursday he would run again for the seat next year, defying his party's leadership. "The people of Alabama are exhausted of politicians saying one thing and doing another".

McConnell is among the Republicans who have worked to persuade Moore not to run again. "Not only can I - they know I can", Moore said during his announcement in Montgomery. "Are these things embarrassing to them?"

Once the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore has been removed from the bench twice.

Alabama's other Senator Richard Shelby hopes so, too. Mr. Trump even recorded a robocall and tweeted on the day of the election "Vote Roy Moore!". I support President Trump.

Donald Trump Jr. speaks to West Virginia voters at a campaign event for Republican Senate candidate Patrick Morrisey October 22, 2018, in Inwood, West Virginia. Moore was backed by Trump and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other Senate Republicans opposed him.

"Republicans can not allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama", the president tweeted.

Taking a page out of President Trump's book, Moore also lambasted Democrats for carrying out what he claimed was "evidence of intent to disrupt a state senate race".

During the last race, six women accused Moore of pursuing romantic or sexual relationships with them when they were teenagers as young as 14 and he was an assistant district attorney in his 30s. Two accused him of assault or molestation.

With his win, defeating Moore by a margin of just over 21,000 votes, Jones became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the deeply red state since 1992.

He now faces a defamation lawsuit from Leigh Corfman, who said that Moore touched her sexually when she was 14 after meeting her at the courthouse. Moore would probably win; other leading contenders would nearly certainly win. Rep. Bradley Byrne, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville are among those already seeking the GOP nomination to take on Jones.

Donald Trump Jr.'s criticism came in response to a report that Moore said he would improve on his previous run by engaging in "more personal contact with people".

Trump, alongside senior Republicans and the GOP fundraising arm, have called on Moore to drop his talk of running, with Trump arguing on Twitter there would be devastating consequences if Moore launched a second bid. "He hasn't said he wouldn't run", he told Politico.

There are now four other candidates vying for the nominee, but the Republican National Senate Committee hopes that former attorney general Jeff Sessions will throw his hat into the ring.