Republican Senate candidate Katie Britt’s campaign is welcoming roughly 500 family, friends and supporters to a chic venue in downtown Montgomery, replete with exposed brick walls and a two-man band singing old school country songs.
The mood feels light as the campaign hopes that former President Trump’s late endorsement will carry weight in a state that voted for him by more than 25 points in 2020. Sean Ross, the campaign’s communications director, is superstitious — he’s been growing his beard since January and says he hopes to shave it off tomorrow morning after a win tonight.
Another attendee also told CNN that he was growing a beard for good luck. “It doesn’t look good,” he joked.
Britt’s husband Wesley is mingling and taking photos with supporters in what will become the overflow room. So many folks RSVP’d to attend that the main hall where Britt is expected to speak later tonight had to be rearranged twice this afternoon to accommodate more people, according to a campaign staffer.
Polls closed in Alabama at 8 p.m. ET. Britt is facing off against Rep. Mo Brooks in a runoff for their party's Senate nomination. Britt took almost 45% of the vote in the first round last month. Trump initially endorsed Brooks in the primary, then dropped him in March, citing Brooks' comments about moving past the 2020 election.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misattributed a detail to Sean Ross.
CNN's Gregory Krieg contributed reporting to this post.
