Democrat Doug Jones scored a stunning upset victory Tuesday in a fiercely contested US Senate race in conservative Alabama, dealing a monumental setback to President Donald Trump, whose candidate could not overcome damaging sexual misconduct accusations.

With 92 percent of precincts reporting, former prosecutor Jones secured 49.5 percent of the vote compared to Roy Moore's 48.8 percent, CNN and other networks reported. 

The result in the most contentious US election of 2017. It marks a bitter blow to the president in one of the reddest of deep South states, and hands opposition Democrats a cherished Senate seat from Alabama for the first time in a quarter century