Roy Moore. The name alone usually triggers a reflex. For some folks in Alabama, he was the "Ten Commandments Judge," a folk hero who stood up to a federal government they felt was overstepping. For others, he represented a deep embarrassment, a man whose career was a treadmill of suspensions, removals from office, and eventually, a national scandal that flipped a deep-red Senate seat.
Moore wasn’t just a politician. He was a phenomenon.
Honestly, looking back from 2026, the Roy Moore for Alabama campaigns feel like the opening act for the hyper-polarized politics we live in today. He didn't just run for office; he ran for a theological vision of what he thought the law should be. Whether you're trying to understand the 2017 special election or why he was kicked off the state’s highest court—twice—you've gotta look at the friction between state power and federal orders. It’s a messy story. It's got everything: a 5,280-pound granite monument, a horse named Sassy, and allegations that stopped a "sure thing" campaign dead in its tracks.
The Monument That Started It All
You can’t talk about Moore without talking about that rock. Back in 2001, shortly after he became Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore had a massive granite monument of the Ten Commandments installed in the rotunda of the state judicial building. He did it in the middle of the night.
Federal courts weren't fans.
They told him to move it. Moore said no. He argued that his oath of office required him to acknowledge God as the source of law. It was a classic showdown. The federal judge, Myron Thompson, wasn't budging, and neither was Moore.
Basically, Moore was trying to prove a point about sovereignty. But in 2003, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary unanimously removed him from office for defying a direct federal order. He was out. But he wasn't gone.
The Comeback Kid and the Second Ousting
Most people’s careers would end after being fired by a judicial ethics panel. Not Roy Moore’s. He spent years on the circuit, speaking at churches and building a base that felt the "liberal" courts had martyred him.
He ran for Governor in 2006. He lost. He ran again in 2010. Lost again.
Then, in 2012, he did the unthinkable: he won back his old job as Chief Justice. It was a stunning political resurrection. Alabama voters essentially told the ethics panel from a decade prior that they wanted their man back.
But history has a way of repeating itself, especially with Moore. By 2016, the battleground had shifted from monuments to marriage. After the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, Moore issued an administrative order telling Alabama probate judges they didn't have to issue licenses to same-sex couples.
Guess what happened?
The Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended him for the rest of his term. That was effectively a second firing, since he was approaching the age limit for judges anyway. He resigned in 2017 to chase a bigger prize: the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions.
The 2017 Special Election: A National Firestorm
This is the part everyone remembers. The Roy Moore for Alabama campaign in 2017 should have been a cakewalk. It was Alabama. It was a special election. A Republican should have won by 20 points.
Then The Washington Post dropped a bombshell.
Multiple women came forward alleging that Moore had pursued them or engaged in sexual misconduct when they were teenagers and he was a district attorney in his 30s. One woman, Leigh Corfman, alleged he had sexual contact with her when she was just 14.
Moore denied everything. He called it "fake news" and a "spiritual battle."
The state was torn. You had national Republicans like Mitch McConnell calling for him to step aside, while local supporters doubled down. It was a circus. Moore famously showed up to vote on his horse, Sassy, wearing a cowboy hat and a defiant grin.
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He lost.
Doug Jones became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Alabama in twenty-five years. It wasn't because Alabama had suddenly become a blue state; it was because enough Republicans stayed home or wrote in other names. The margin was tiny—about 1.6%.
What Most People Get Wrong About His Base
If you think Moore’s supporters were just "uninformed," you’re missing the nuance. For a huge slice of the electorate, Roy Moore for Alabama wasn't about the man’s personal life; it was about a perceived war on their values.
They saw a guy who:
- Put the Bible before the bench.
- Refused to bow to federal "activist" judges.
- Spoke a language of Christian nationalism that resonated in the Wiregrass and the Tennessee Valley.
To them, the allegations were a last-minute hit job by the "Deep State." This skepticism of mainstream media and federal authority didn't start with Roy Moore, but he certainly poured gasoline on the fire.
Moore’s Legacy in 2026
Where is he now? After a failed 2020 primary run where he finished far behind Tommy Tuberville and Jeff Sessions, Moore has mostly faded from the daily headlines. But his fingerprints are everywhere in Alabama politics.
You see his influence in the way state leaders now approach federal mandates. The "stand your ground" attitude toward the Supreme Court or the Department of Justice is a direct descendant of the Moore era. He proved that you could lose your job and still be a hero to a specific, powerful segment of the population.
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Why His Career Still Matters
- Judicial Activism: Moore challenged the idea of what a judge is supposed to be. Is a judge a neutral arbiter of written law, or a moral leader? Moore chose the latter, and the debate hasn't stopped since.
- The Breaking of the G.O.P. Wall: The 2017 election showed that there is a limit to "party-line" voting, even in the Deep South. Character matters, or at least, the perception of it does.
- Federal vs. State Power: His career was one long lawsuit about who really runs Alabama—the people in Montgomery or the people in D.C.
Actionable Insights for Political Junkies
If you're following Alabama politics today, keep an eye on the "Moore-style" candidates. They don't usually win statewide anymore—the 2020 primary proved the brand had lost its luster—but they still dominate local primaries.
To understand where a candidate stands, don't just look at their ads. Look at their relationship with the federal courts. Are they promising to "defy" or "comply"? That’s the litmus test Roy Moore left behind.
If you want to dig deeper, look up the Glassroth v. Moore (2003) ruling. It’s the definitive legal breakdown of why he was removed the first time. It's dry, legalistic, but it explains the "Establishment Clause" better than any textbook.
Roy Moore’s story isn't just a series of scandals. It’s a map of the fault lines in American life. Whether you view him as a principled constitutionalist or a dangerous theocrat, you can't ignore the fact that he forced the country to look at Alabama—and Alabama to look at itself—for nearly three decades.
The era of Roy Moore for Alabama might be over in terms of ballots, but the questions he raised about God, law, and power are still very much on the docket.
To stay informed on current Alabama races, your best bet is following local outlets like the Alabama Daily News or AL.com. They usually catch the subtle shifts in the "Moore-wing" of the party long before the national news cycles pick them up. Pay attention to the fundraising quarters; that’s where you’ll see if the old-school populist energy is still getting checks written or if the state has truly moved on.