The Slatest

Poll: Democratic Candidate Gains Slight Edge Over Moore in Alabama Senate Race

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Doug Jones poses for a photo with a baby after speaking at a fish fry campaign event at Ensley Park, November 18, 2017 in Birmingham, Alabama.  

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

With less than two weeks to go before the highly anticipated special election in Alabama that will select the next senator, it’s looking like things are too close to call. A new Washington Post/Schar School poll published Saturday shows that 50 percent of likely voters support Democratic candidate Doug Jones, compared to 47 percent who back Roy Moore for the Dec. 12 contest. That is well within the poll’s 4.5-point margin of error, but the survey does show that the allegations of sexual misconduct have severely hurt the Republican candidate who was once seen as the favorite to easily win the race.

When it comes to standards of personal moral conduct, a majority of likely voters — 53 percent — believe Jones has higher standards than Moore. Only one third of likely voters say Moore has higher standards. Despite these opinions though, it seems clear Alabama voters aren’t sure what to think about the allegations against Moore. Only 35 percent of likely voters say they believe Moore made unwanted advances on teenage girls when he was in his 30s, while 37 percent say they are unsure or have no opinion and 28 percent say they don’t think he actually did that.

Not surprisingly, women are more likely to find the allegations against Moore to be credible and, in turn, are also more likely to support Jones. The Democratic candidate leads by 18 points with women while Moore is ahead by 15 points among men, according to the survey.

If Moore loses the election, the Republican majority in the Senate will narrow to 51-49. Despite the allegations against Moore though, polls still show the Republican candidate is the favorite to win the race with the RealClearPolitics average of polls putting Moore ahead by 2.5 points.