Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is considering running for his old Alabama Senate seat in 2020, Politico reports. Sessions was fired as attorney general Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. President Trump had publicly savaged Sessions throughout his tenure, and his dismissal had long been expected. After Sessions left the Senate in 2017, his seat was won by Democrat Doug Jones in a special election upset. Jones is up for a full term in 2020, and is viewed as the most vulnerable incumbent senator facing reelection, given Alabama’s conservative tilt. Republicans are certain to contest the seat aggressively as they look to protect their majority.
Former Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who was temporarily appointed to Sessions’ former seat, tweeted, “Jeff Sessions for Senate in 2020!” Sessions, who spent two decades in the Senate, is practically a household name in his home state, and speculation has been simmering for weeks within Alabama political circles that he might seek a return. Yet, party officials say the 71-year-old Sessions wouldn’t necessarily face a clear path should he wage a comeback. Trump’s relentless attacks on the former attorney general have taken a toll on his popularity in the state.