Roy Moore, once clear favorite to win Alabama Senate seat, now trails rival
Republican candidate has denied rash of sexual misconduct allegations, and his wife held a press conference on Friday to defend him
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
WASHINGTON — Roy Moore, the Republican candidate from Alabama accused of preying on teenage girls when he was in his 30s, trails his Democratic rival in the race for the crucial Senate seat, according to the latest polls.
A Gravis survey published on Friday had Moore, a 70-year-old former state supreme court judge and hard-line conservative, trailing Democrat Doug Jones, a 63-year-old US Attorney, by 47 percent to 42%.
A Fox News poll on Thursday put Jones at 50% and Moore at 42%, while a local Fox 10 poll had Jones up 49-43.
The polls had margins of error of between two and 3.5 percentage points.
Before The Washington Post published the first allegations against Moore, the Republican was heavily favored to win the December 12 election in the state where Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 28 points.
Moore has denied the allegations against him and his wife held a press conference on Friday to defend her husband.
“He will not step down,” Kayla Moore told reporters in Montgomery, Alabama. “He will not stop fighting for the people of Alabama.
“In his words and I quote, “I will not stop until they lay me in that box in the ground,” she said.
The Senate election, being held to replace Jeff Sessions, who was named attorney general, has national repercussions because Republicans hold only a slim 52-48 majority in the chamber.
A number of Senate Republicans, including majority leader Mitch McConnell, have called on Moore to quit the race, but he has adamantly refused to do so.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Friday that the president finds the allegations against Moore “extremely troubling” but that it was up to the people of Alabama to decide.
The Times of Israel Community.