Who's In the Race
Republican Barry Moore faces Democrat Everett Wess in the November 3 general election in Alabama's U.S. Senate race. The seat is open because Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) chose to run for Alabama governor rather than seek a second Senate term.
Moore has served in the U.S. House since 2021, previously spent eight years in the Alabama House of Representatives, and is an Alabama National Guard and Reserves veteran who founded an industrial waste-hauling company. He won the June 23 Republican primary runoff with about 56 percent of the vote over Jared Hudson.
Wess is a Birmingham attorney who has managed the Wess Law Firm since 2001, focusing on estate planning and criminal defense, and served eight years as a Midfield Municipal Court judge. He won the June 23 Democratic primary runoff with about 55 percent of the vote over Dakarai Larriett. The Republican runoff drew more than three times as many votes as the Democratic runoff, 311,225 to 92,413.
What They Stand For
Moore has proposed "zero tolerance for illegal immigration," including permanent border security and deportation of people in the country illegally, according to his campaign website. He also supports:
- Tax cuts for working families and small businesses, cutting regulations, and shrinking government,
- Fully funding law enforcement and prosecuting violent criminals to the fullest extent,
- Defending the right to keep and bear arms and opposing federal gun confiscation; and
- Funding the VA, protecting the GI Bill, and supporting military families.
Wess has proposed federal investment in rural hospitals and emergency departments, recruiting medical staff, and making care and prescription drugs more affordable, according to the Alabama Reflector. He's also supported:
- Federal investment in Alabama roads, bridges, ports, and rural broadband,
- Working across party lines to lower the cost of gasoline, groceries, and prescription drugs,
- Quality public education and economic opportunity for communities; and
- Voting rights, equal justice, fair courts, and clean government, according to his campaign website.
The Money Behind the Race
Through June 30, Barry Moore had raised about $3.8 million and had about $628,000 in the bank, roughly 47 times as much in receipts and 34 times as much cash as Everett Wess, who had raised about $81,000 and had about $18,000 on hand. Wess carried about $71,000 in debt as of that date, nearly as much as his total receipts.
Outside groups have poured far more into the race than either candidate raised. Outside groups spent more than $22.5 million in independent expenditures in the race, all of it directed at Republican candidates, with Defend American Jobs accounting for about $12.2 million in support of Moore, more than half the total.
Race Outlook: Ratings and Betting Markets
Every major handicapper rates this race out of reach for Democrats. Cook Political Report rated it Solid Republican as of Oct. 12; Sabato's Crystal Ball rated it Solid Republican as of Oct. 15; and Inside Elections rated it Solid Republican as of Oct. 2. On Kalshi, traders gave Republicans, whose nominee is Moore, a 97.04% chance of winning as of Oct. 20, leaving Democrats, whose nominee is Wess, at 2.96%.
Moore led Wess by 19 percentage points in polling, 52.5 percent to 33.5 percent, with 14 percent undecided, as of Sept. 25. The broader political landscape reinforces that picture. In 2022, Republican Katie Britt won Alabama's other Senate seat with about 67 percent of the vote. Republicans won six of the state's seven U.S. House seats in 2022, and Democrats won one. Donald Trump carried Alabama in the 2024 presidential election with about 65 percent of the vote.
For Wess to close the gap, he would need a dramatic shift in a state that has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1997, and he enters the final stretch with a fraction of Moore's money and no recorded outside-group support.
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