A new poll of registered voters in Alabama’s Senate race found that 29% of those surveyed are more likely to vote for Republican Roy Moore following allegations of sexual misconduct against four underage women.
The poll was conducted by JMC Analytics and Polling from Nov. 9-11. It has a margin of error of 4.1%.
One of the questions asked: “Given the allegations that have come out about Roy Moore’s alleged sexual misconduct against four underage women, are you more or less likely to support him as a result of these allegations?”
In contrast to the nearly third of respondents who said they are more likely to vote for Moore, who has so far refused to drop out of the key Senate race, 38% said they are less likely to vote for him following the allegations, which were first published by The Washington Post on Thursday.
A third (33%) said the allegations that Moore, now 70, initiated sexual encounters with teenagers as young as 14 when he was in his 30s made “no difference” in their decision of whom to vote for in the Dec. 12 race for Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat.
Despite this bizarre reality among a segment of AL voters who seem to prefer an alleged pedophile to a Democrat, the JMC Analytics poll was notably positive for Moore’s Democratic challenger, Doug Jones.
For the first time in the race’s polling, Jones overtook Moore with 46% of voter support compared with Moore’s 42%. Nine percent said they remain undecided.
That is up from 40% favoring Jones in a previous poll versus 48% supporting Moore. Among undecided voters, 48% said they preferred Jones in the latest poll, compared with 44% who are leaning toward Moore.
Nevertheless, 47% of those surveyed said that they believe Moore is qualified to serve as a U.S. senator, based on his campaign, versus 43% who believe he is unqualified for the seat.
According to Bloomberg, citing a Fox 10/Strategy Research poll from mid–October, Moore previously held an 11–point lead in the race. Another survey from Nov. 9 had the two candidates in a tie.
Moore continues to deny the allegations, saying on Saturday that the reports are “yet another attack on my character and reputation in a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for the United States Senate,” CNN reported.
He promised that unspecified “revelations” would be forthcoming in the next few days to address the accusations.
Meanwhile, several Republicans have joined Democrats in calling for Moore to drop out of the race.
“There’s no Senate seat more important than the notion of child pedophilia,” White House adviser Marc Short told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.