Last month, Doug Jones became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Alabama since the early 1990s. He was helped by the fact his Republican opponent, Roy Moore, was charged by several women with sexual abuse - charges he denied. Moore's loss may actually have saved the GOP some headaches, considering several top Republicans condemned Moore and demanded he step aside for another candidate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that even if Moore won, he would be immediately subjected to an ethics investigation.
Still, Republicans were disheartened by the defeat in a race that should have been safely red.
Well, so far Jones's presence in the Senate has not been such a bad thing for the GOP after all. Since assuming his duties, Jones has voted with Republicans. First, when the whole government shutdown battle was brewing, Jones became one of only five Democrats to side with Team Keep the Government Open.
Republicans who voted against funding the government
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 20, 2018
1) Jeff Flake
2) Lindsey Graham
3) Rand Paul
4) Mike Lee
Democrats who voted to fund government
1) Joe Donnelly
2) Heidi Heitkamp
3) Doug Jones
4) Joe Manchin
5) Claire McCaskill
Jones explained he was voting yes because it was important to keep the funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program.
On Wednesday, Jones helped Republicans to a win by voting in favor of HHS secretary nominee Alex Azar.
Senate votes 55-43 to make Alex Azar the next secretary of Health and Human Services.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 24, 2018
Of course, there are other, more partisan battles to come. Judging by his extreme position on abortion, I imagine he'll be straying from Republicans before long.