Alabama state Rep. John Rogers (D), who has been engaged in a war of words with U.S. Sen. Doug Jones over the last few days, announced yesterday that he will challenge Jones for his Senate seat.

Fox News reports:

“I am now a candidate for United States Senate,” Rogers said [Tuesday]. “I’ve already, I’ve got – I’m running for real. I’m not backing down. I’m a candidate. I’ve already – I asked them to give me $1 million, and already $500,000 have come in already. And so if I get $500,000 [in addition], I’ll be an official candidate. I’m telling you right now.”

Rogers on House floor just claimed he’s already raised $500k for his primary bid against @DougJones pic.twitter.com/xE2Jw5u6na

— Sean Ross (@sean_yhn) May 7, 2019

Rogers created a lot of trouble for both himself and Jones last week after appalling comments he made on the statehouse floor in explaining his opposition to a pro-life bill that passed the House 74-3. To recap, here’s what he said:

“Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later. You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now or you kill them later,” Rogers said.

Rogers also said abortion should be an option for women in cases where their unborn children are “retarded” or “half-deformed.”

Red State‘s Brandon Morse wrote in a later post that Rogers went even further when questioned later on his position, stating that Donald Trump, Jr. – who had earlier criticized his abortion position – was proof that women should always have the right to abortion “because [Trump, Jr.] is evidently retarded or crazy.”

Local media pressed Jones for a response to Rogers’s remarks late last week. Jones, who is a longtime friend of Rogers (Rogers was once a client of Jones’s) condemned what the state representative said:

The rhetoric of Rep. John Rogers gets more appalling each time he speaks. He does not speak for the people of Alabama and is in fact offending all Alabamians with his crude and reprehensible comments. https://t.co/ZLI8e83Z2d

— Doug Jones (@DougJones) May 2, 2019

But Rogers said in a radio interview Monday that Jones called him and told him he privately agreed with him but had to take the stance he did publicly because of politics.

Rogers also said in that same interview that Jones called him a second time and yelled at him. That apparently was the catalyst for Rogers to challenge the Senator for his seat.

And here’s where it REALLY gets interesting: Rogers claims to have audio of the phone call where Jones allegedly stated he agreed with his position:

NEW: The “Kill em now or kill em later” Rep in Alabama not only announced his campaign against Doug Jones despite being friends with him for decades, but now says he has an audio recording of Jones saying he agreed with his comments in private.

Doug Jones is done for. https://t.co/WYLeLifIGy

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) May 7, 2019

Matthews is a Birmingham political activist who, according to local media reports, has not been available for comment.

I don’t know a lot about Alabama politics, so I don’t know if Rogers would have a legit chance against Jones. But I’m grabbing the popcorn for this primary fight because Jones so far has been able to gloss over his abortion position and voters in his state deserve more clarity on the matter.

Rep. Rogers has served in the Alabama House since 1982.

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–