Tribune News Service | Preview | Alabama Senate race a toss-up, new poll finds
"WASHINGTON - Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama, lost his lead in the race after allegations that he had sexual contact with teenagers years ago, and the election is now a toss-up, a new poll indicated Sunday.
Moore trails Democratic candidate Doug Jones 46 percent to 42 percent among Alabama voters, a lead for the Democrat that is well within the poll's margin of error of 4.1 points, according to the new survey by Louisiana-based JMC Analytics. That finding is consistent with two overnight polls that were released since the allegations came to light Thursday.
Before the news broke, Moore had an eight-point lead in the race, reflecting Alabama's heavily Republican tilt. The election is scheduled for Dec. 12.
Republican leaders nationally have been trying to persuade Moore to quit the race. But the former Alabama Supreme Court justice, a staunch religious conservative, has insisted he will not quit, saying the allegations against him by four women are politically inspired.
Some Republicans have talked about mounting a write-in campaign for another candidate. Others fear that would merely split the party's vote and hand the election to Jones.
The poll showed Democrats united behind Jones, but Republicans split over whether to support Moore. It also showed that Moore's campaign had largely failed to convince the state's voters that Jones is too far to the left - only 31 percent of poll respondents said they saw him as a "liberal," with 26 percent calling him moderate and 37 percent saying they did not know."
"WASHINGTON - Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama, lost his lead in the race after allegations that he had sexual contact with teenagers years ago, and the election is now a toss-up, a new poll indicated Sunday.
Moore trails Democratic candidate Doug Jones 46 percent to 42 percent among Alabama voters, a lead for the Democrat that is well within the poll's margin of error of 4.1 points, according to the new survey by Louisiana-based JMC Analytics. That finding is consistent with two overnight polls that were released since the allegations came to light Thursday.
Before the news broke, Moore had an eight-point lead in the race, reflecting Alabama's heavily Republican tilt. The election is scheduled for Dec. 12.
Republican leaders nationally have been trying to persuade Moore to quit the race. But the former Alabama Supreme Court justice, a staunch religious conservative, has insisted he will not quit, saying the allegations against him by four women are politically inspired.
Some Republicans have talked about mounting a write-in campaign for another candidate. Others fear that would merely split the party's vote and hand the election to Jones.
The poll showed Democrats united behind Jones, but Republicans split over whether to support Moore. It also showed that Moore's campaign had largely failed to convince the state's voters that Jones is too far to the left - only 31 percent of poll respondents said they saw him as a "liberal," with 26 percent calling him moderate and 37 percent saying they did not know."
