On the eve of the Alabama special election, Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones rallied a crowd in Birmingham calling on Alabamians to turn out and vote.
“All we’ve got to do is make sure we get out our votes tomorrow,” Jones told the crowd.
“I told folks, and told them all the time, if you called people today to say get up and vote, call them again tomorrow to make sure they got out and voted. Take people with you to the polls, grab folks that you can, because as we all know this election is going to be one of the most significant in our state’s history in a long, long time,” he later added.
Jones was joined by Alabama native and retired basketball star Charles Barkley at the rally, who told AL.com earlier Monday that “it can’t be Roy Moore.”
“To me it’s silliness that this guy’s trying to win,” Barkley said, according to AL.com.
At the rally, Barkley said “it’s not just about tomorrow,” as he encouraged the crowd to vote on Tuesday.
“At some point, we got to stop looking like idiots to the nation,” Barkley said.
Jones is battling Republican nominee Moore to fill the seat previously held for two decades by now-US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The race has garnered national attention with multiple women accusing Moore of attempting to pursue sexual relationships with them many years ago, when they were teenagers and Moore was in his 30s. Moore has also been accused of molesting a 14-year-old and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old. Moore has denied any inappropriate behavior.
Both candidates have seen significant backing from their respective parties. President Donald Trump announced his full endorsement of the controversial Republican candidate last week, which was later followed by support from the Republican National Committee, despite multiple GOP lawmakers condemning Moore amid the allegations.
The allegations against Moore have also come during a time of national reckoning surrounding sexual assault, harassment and misconduct.
Jones received support from several big-name Democrats in the closing days of the race, including robocalls by former President Barack Obama and campaigning in the state by Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey.
“We’ve got to make sure at this crossroads in Alabama’s history, we take the right road,” Jones said Monday night.
The rally Monday night was the latest in a marathon of events Jones’ held over the weekend, while Moore remained somewhat reclusive in the days leading up to the special election.
