Following his second suspension from his position as Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, Roy Moore announced yesterday that he has formally resigned from his position as Chief Justice and will be running for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Gov. Kay Ivey is now in the position to appoint a new Chief Justice; however, Justice Tom Parker has announced that he will seek the position in the primary election in Nov. 2018.

Moore joins Sen. Luther Strange, state Rep. Ed Henry and President of the Christian Coalition of Alabama Randy Brinson as the current contenders for the seat.

The seat initially became vacant when Jeff Sessions left the senate to serve as the U.S. Attorney General. Former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange took over Sessions’ duties after he was appointed by former Gov. Robert Bentley. Strange will hold the seat until the coming election.

The deadline for candidates to qualify is May 17 and the general election will be held on Dec. 12, 2017. The party primaries are scheduled for Aug. 15, and if a runoff is needed, it will be held on Sept. 26. The election was originally scheduled to coincide with the primary election, but Gov. Ivey moved the date for a special election to be held soon after her taking office.

“My position has always been God first, family then country. I share the vision of President Donald Trump to make America great again,” Moore said outside the State Capitol yesterday. “We can make America great again, we’ve got to make America good again.”

Aside from running for and holding the position of Chief Justice, Moore also ran for Governor in 2006 and 2010. He lost both times.