2017 United States Special Senate Election (Santorum in the House)

The 2017 United States Special Senate Election in Alabama took place on December 12, 2017, to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate through the end of the term ending on January 3, 2021, arising from the resignation, on February 8, 2017, of Jefferson Sessions to serve as Secretary of State. Republican candidate Luther Strange defeated Democratic candidate Douglas Jones by a margin of 232,944 votes (20,0%).

On February 9, 2017, Governor Robert Bentley appointed Luther Strange, the Attorney General of Alabama, to fill the vacancy until a special election could take place. Bentley controversially scheduled the special election to align with the 2018 general election instead of the election being held sooner. When Kay Ivey succeeded Bentley as governor, she rescheduled the special election for December 12, 2017.

Jones, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, won the Democratic primary election. Strange competed with Roy Moore, a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, and Representative Morris Brooks in the Republican primary of August 15, 2017. The two highest vote-getters, Strange and Moore, advanced into the run-off stage. President Richard Santorum supported Strange during the primary runoff, in addition to much of the Republican establishment in the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who made the success of Strange's candidacy a major priority. Santorum's efforts to get Strange nominated included tweeting and, more importantly, a semi-active campaign throughout Alabama, with Santorum holding regular weekly rallies for Strange's candidacy, alongside additional ground support. Vice President Michael Pence campaigned quite actively for Strange as well. With Mitch McConnell's help, Strange outspent Moore by a margin of 10-to-1. It is widely agreed that Santorum's regular ground campaigning was the decisive factor for Strange's narrow victory in the runoff on September 26, 2017.

Political pundits were quick to note the unprecedented nature of the support that President Santorum gave to Strange's primary campaign. Including during the primary campaign, Santorum explained the unprecedented move by admitting that he was "distinctly concerned" about some of Moore's past statements on civil rights and about past irregularities surrounding the finances of "Foundation for Moral Law", an advocacy group chaired by Moore's wife, Kayla. He also expressed his belief that "a piece of bad news hardly ever shows up alone" and concern over the possibility of other "politically-sensitive skeletons hiding in Moore's closet". He also underlined his view that "the Republican Party of today could certainly do with a substantially better representative of it's image" in Alabama. Political pundits noted Moore's reluctance to respond in any way to Santorum's criticism, although he did respond at one point by expressing his apparent concern that "President Santorum sounds less like the traditionalist insurgent his base voted for in the 2016 primary and more like someone who tries his best to please the Republican establishment and the unhinged liberal media".

After a general election with no major events regarding either candidacy, at 9:23 p.m. CST, the Associated Press called the election for Luther Strange, and Douglas Jones promptly conceded.