Doug Jones Risks His Alabama Senate Seat Over the Shutdown and the Wall MSN, Jan 18, 2019, NY Times
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Mr. Jones is the only red-state Senate Democrat up for re-election in 2020. By taking on President Trump and the border wall, which are both popular in Alabama, and refusing to give ground on the shutdown, the senator may be the last “Doug Jones Democrat†to win here anytime soon.
Alabama has one of the largest groups of federal workers in the country, and the economic pain of those who are out of work because of the shutdown is rippling through local businesses across the state.
“I voted for Jones, I did,†said Ann Lynch, an 86-year-old retired schoolteacher, as she did her grocery shopping wrapped in a fur coat on a brisk afternoon in Huntsville, where more than half of the local economy is tied to federal spending. “But he doesn’t support the wall. I don’t like that, of course. I think we need it. Trump knows we need it.â€
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In Huntsville, the impact of empty offices at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on the Army’s Redstone Arsenal base has rippled through the contractors, restaurants and hotels that power Rocket City. With 5,000 workers furloughed across the state, the pain is being felt by people like Angie Gates, whose small family restaurant lost out on $600 worth of lunch business recently because a prison training program was shut down during the wall standoff.
“For us, because we’re a small town, the shutdown is kind of difficult. But there’s also things in politics that may be worth doing,†said Ms. Gates. “If Doug Jones doesn’t support the wall, I don’t support him.â€
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/doug-jones-risks-his-alabama-senate-seat-over-the-shutdown-and-the-wall/ar-BBSqir2?ocid=spartanntp