--- title: Doug Jones Alabama Election: Read the Full Victory Speech description: Addressing his supporters in Birmingham, Alabama, Doug Jones focused on broaching partisan divides and "getting things done for the people" canonical: https://time.com/5062119/doug-jones-alabama-speech/ author: Laignee Barron article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-13T08:46:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:33:11.194Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'We Have Work to Do.' Read the Full Transcript of Doug Jones’ Victory Speech og:description: He was initially seen as a long-shot candidate og:url: https://time.com/5062119/doug-jones-alabama-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33fe0814ee55ec42/6988f4d48fd2ee313c359ffe/gettyimages-891275478.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Doug Jones og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'We Have Work to Do.' Read the Full Transcript of Doug Jones’ Victory Speech twitter:description: He was initially seen as a long-shot candidate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33fe0814ee55ec42/6988f4d48fd2ee313c359ffe/gettyimages-891275478.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'We Have Work to Do.' Read Doug Jones' Speech After Winning the Alabama Election by [Laignee Barron](https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Dec 13, 2017 8:46 AM UTC  Alabama Democrat Doug Jones celebrates his victory over Judge Roy Moore in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 12, 2017. Alabama Democrat Doug Jones celebrates his victory over Judge Roy Moore in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 12, 2017.Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc/Getty Images by [Laignee Barron](https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Dec 13, 2017 8:46 AM UTC Democrat Doug Jones won Alabama’s [special Senate election](http://time.com/5059673/alabama-special-election-results-2017-doug-jones/?xid=homepage) Tuesday, beating Republican and former judge Roy Moore to become the first Democratic senator to represent the state in 20 years. Jones, a former attorney, who helped prosecute two Ku Klux Klan members responsible for the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, was initially seen as a long shot candidate in a state that tended to favor conservatives. But Moore’s campaign was dogged with allegations of [sexual misconduct,](http://time.com/5047360/donald-trump-we-need-roy-moore-sexual-misconduct-allegations/) with multiple women saying he had pursued them when they were teenagers. He denies the allegations. Jones’ victory delivers a blow to President Donald Trump, who had [endorsed Moore](http://time.com/5057767/trump-robocalls-moore/), saying the Senate could not “[afford to lose the seat.”](http://time.com/5057238/donald-trump-roy-moore-doug-jones-rally/) With Jones delivering Democrats a [much-coveted](http://time.com/5062097/doug-jones-alabama-senator-gop-roy-moore/) additional seat, the Republican’s majority has narrowed to just 2, with a split of 51-49. Addressing his supporters late Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala., Jones focused on broaching partisan divides. “We have shown the country the way that we can be unified,” he said, and called for “reaching across and actually getting things done for the people.” Here’s a complete transcript of his remarks. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5062119/doug-jones-alabama-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5062119/doug-jones-alabama-speech/"},"headline":"'We Have Work to Do.' Read Doug Jones' Speech After Winning the Alabama Election","datePublished":"2017-12-13T08:46:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:33:11.194Z","description":"\"At the end of the day, this entire race has been about dignity and respect\"","url":"https://time.com/5062119/doug-jones-alabama-speech/","keywords":["alabama","Senate","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33fe0814ee55ec42/6988f4d48fd2ee313c359ffe/gettyimages-891275478.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laignee Barron","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33fe0814ee55ec42/6988f4d48fd2ee313c359ffe/gettyimages-891275478.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Doug Jones","caption":"Doug Jones wins Alabama Senate Race 2017","creditText":"Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/alabama/","name":"alabama"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5062119/doug-jones-alabama-speech/","name":"'We Have Work to Do.' Read Doug Jones' Speech After Winning the Alabama Election"}}]}] ```