Wow.

Roy Moore’s Wednesday evening attempt to keep Doug Jones from being certified as the winner of the December 12 Alabama special election for Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat fell through.

A court rejected his attempts and at 1pm today, Doug Jones was sworn in and his win was made official.

Roy Moore will not concede.

“Election fraud experts across the country have agreed that this was a fraudulent election,” Moore said in his statement. “I’ve had to fight not only the Democrats but also the Republican Senate Leadership Fund and over $50 million in opposition spending from the Washington establishment.”

I imagine it’s a hard pill to swallow.

Alabama is a deep red state, and Moore was the favorite in the race right up until the end. When several women came forward and accused Moore of inappropriate behavior towards them in the late 70s to early 80s the outcome of the election seemed much less sure.

He probably could have weathered that storm, but people tend to have visceral reactions to the idea of a 30-something year old man hitting on teen girls.

Moore has maintained his innocence and even said that he’s taken a polygraph that proves he’s telling the truth about that period of time in his life.

“I have stood for the truth about God and the Constitution for the people of Alabama,” Moore said in his Thursday statement. “I have no regrets. To God be the glory.”

It’s going to be an ugly mark on what should be the end of Moore’s political career, given his age, if he doesn’t find some graceful way to step back.

But then again, welcome to 2017.