WASHINGTON _ Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore is tied with his Democratic rival, according to the first poll in the race after a report that he initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl in the late 1970s.
Moore is tied with Democrat Doug Jones in a poll conducted Thursday by Atlanta-based Opinion Savvy. Moore led by 5.7 percent in the organization's Sept. 29 survey.
The poll, conducted for Decision Desk HQ, found that an overwhelming majority of those surveyed, 82 percent, were aware of the allegations, and that 54 percent didn't think Moore should drop out. Among all Republicans surveyed, 72.9 percent thought he should remain in the contest. The election is Dec. 12.
The poll of 515 voters asked respondents if they would vote for Moore, Jones or write in Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who lost to Moore in September's Republican primary. In that scenario, Jones led with 43.6 percent, while Moore drew 41.3 percent and Strange received 12.3 percent.
The poll comes as a growing number of top Republican officials, including President Donald Trump, are calling for Moore, now 70, to step aside if a Washington Post report is correct that he pursued the 14-year-old and three other teenagers when he was in his 30s and an assistant district attorney.
