Republican Tommy Tuberville has defeated incumbent Sen. Doug Jones (D) in Alabama's U.S. Senate race, AP projects.

Why it matters: Although expected, the win by Tuberville — a former college football coach — is important for Republicans, who are fighting to keep control of the Senate.

The big picture: It was unlikely that Jones, the state's first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in decades, would be able to hang onto the seat, which he won in a 2017 special election after Jeff Sessions left the Senate to serve as U.S. attorney general.

• The Democrat's upset victory at the time followed an intense campaign marked by allegations of sexual misconduct against his then-Republican challenger, Roy Moore.
• Cook Political Report rated this year's race as "leans Republican."