MONTGOMERY, ALA. (EETV) - Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore announced this afternoon that he is planning to run for Senate as a replacement for Jeff Sessions, who became the U.S. Attorney General earlier this year.
Moore announced his plans on the steps of the Capitol in Montgomery, saying, "As United State Senator, I will continue to stand for rights and liberties not only of this state, but of the people as well,"
Moore has been suspended from the state Supreme Court after he refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Defending his choice, he said at the press conference, "I stood up for God....unless you understand what God has to do with the Constitution, you don't understand the Constitution."
In 2003, the Court of the Judiciary removed Moore from the chief justice's office for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument he had placed in the state judicial building, after a federal judge ordered him to.
Moore also lost bids for the Republican ticket for Alabama governor in 2006 and 2010.
Moore will be submitting papers soon to officially start his run for Senate. The special election to fill the seat will be December 12.
