Campaign

Pro-Trump group’s poll finds Moore up 1 in Alabama

by Ben Kamisar - 11/30/17 5:25 PM ET

Alabama Senate race polling from a group aligned with President Trump shows a tight race ahead of the December special election.

Pro-Trump group America First Policies commissioned two polls on the race as it weighs whether to back embattled Republican Roy Moore. One came in the days after The Washington Post reported allegations that Moore molested a 14-year-old girl decades ago while he was an adult and another over the past few days.

{mosads}That first poll, conducted between Nov. 13-15 found Democrat Doug Jones ahead by 8 points. But the second poll, conducted between Nov. 26-28, found Moore ahead 46 percent to 45 percent.

“Although there has been a massive amount of investment and media attention surrounding the race, Doug Jones has tumbled,” Brian O. Walsh, America First Policies’s president, said in a statement released with the poll. “This election is a dead heat and far from over.”

Roll Call first reported the polling results.

Moore has denied the allegations, including a more recent one from a woman who said Moore tried to sexually assault her while she was 16 years old. She said the assault happened around the same time, when Moore was an adult.

The polling comes as the group weighs whether to lend a hand to Moore amid the swirling allegations that have sent Washington Republicans fleeing from his campaign. Senate GOP leadership and the Republican National Committee all pulled support from Moore amid the flurry of allegations, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) floating the specter of expulsion if he wins the Dec. 12 contest.

But Trump has refused to follow suit, echoing Moore’s denials and arguing that “we don’t need a liberal person” in the Senate seat.

Recent comments criticizing Jones from Trump and his allies have raised questions as to whether the White House or groups like America First Policies will devote resources to the Alabama Republican ahead of the election. But a spokesperson for the group confirmed to The Hill that it has not decided whether to send concrete resources to help Moore.

Both polls came from interviews with 600 likely voters and have a margin of error of 4 percentage point. The pollsters contacted half the respondents through an online survey and half through landline and cellphone calls.

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