Democrat Doug Jones got 671,151 votes in Alabama’s Tuesday night U.S. Senate special election.
Yep, we’re probably going to learn whether write-in votes for Nick Saban helped swing the Alabama Senate election
The Tide head coach gets a handful of write-in votes in every election, but this one was a unique case.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Republican Roy Moore lost with 650,436 votes.
There were 22,819 write-in votes.
650,436
+ 22,819
= 673,255
And since 673,255 is bigger than Jones’ winning total, that means we’re probably going to learn exactly how many people voted for Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
Write-in votes for coaches and athletes is nothing new ...
Saban and Auburn coaches have gotten them in the state before, a Popovich-Duncan ticket is popular in San Antonio’s county, Urban Meyer is a national brand, Bill Belichick and Brad Stevens got votes in the last presidential election, “53 people went to the polls and voted for Pittsburgh Penguins winger Phil Kessel,” and Penn State was out here urging people not to vote for James Franklin.
And this happened before Jim Harbaugh was even Michigan’s coach:
... but this was a different election.
I mean, a Democrat won in modern Alabama. Even considering Moore’s multitude of scandals, that alone means we’re in new territory.
Days before, a Democrat group encouraged Alabamians to write in Saban’s name.
MSNBC interviewed one self-described lifelong Republican who decided to write in Saban’s name in order to avoid supporting either Moore or Jones:
It’s safe to bet Saban just topped his own personal best for write-in votes.
Could Saban actually win one of these things one day?
He’s got a head start with all these write-in votes! That’s how it works, right? No? That’s not how it works.
Saban’s walked a fine line when it comes to politics, once claiming he didn’t realize the 2016 election was happening until it was over. But he’s donated to conservative Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia (Saban’s home state) and openly expressed admiration for Hillary Clinton ... sort of.
Elections don’t seem like his style, and I’d assume he’ll leave all that to Tommy Tuberville. But I dare you to ask him about all this while he’s busy preparing to play Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.
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