Republican leaders are exploring a dramatic remedy to salvage the Alabama Senate seat as fresh polling shows Roy Moore's prospects fading fast.

With less than four weeks until the special election and no sign that the party’s besieged nominee will exit the race, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his top advisers are discussing the legal feasibility of asking appointed Sen. Luther Strange to resign from his seat in order to trigger a new special election.


McConnell aides express caution, saying they're uncertain whether such a move, one of several options being discussed, is even possible. Yet the talks underscore the despair among top Republicans over relinquishing a seat in deep-red Alabama, further diminishing their slim Senate majority.

New GOP polling obtained by POLITICO suggests that Moore is cratering. A survey conducted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee after allegations emerged that Moore had engaged in sexual misconduct with teenagers showed him trailing Democratic candidate Doug Jones by 12 points. Other recent polling has the race closer.

McConnell’s team had been high on the idea of asking Jeff Sessions, who held the Alabama seat for two decades prior to becoming Attorney General, to run as a write-in candidate. But the committee polled the prospect of Sessions waging a write-in bid and the outcome was unfavorable, said three people familiar with the results. Party officials worry that a write-in candidacy would serve only to split the Republican vote and seal a Jones victory.

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Plus, Sessions isn't interested, according to several people who've spoken about it with him. He has received overtures from Republican lawmakers, including Richard Shelby, Alabama’s longtime Republican senator, who spoke with Sessions this week.

Republicans are engaged in a flurry of back-channel conversations. President Donald Trump spoke with McConnell on Wednesday morning and the Alabama race was a major topic of discussion, said several people briefed on the conversation. On Tuesday morning, Shelby spoke with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. During the discussion, Ivey dismissed the possibility of moving the date of the Dec. 12 election, an idea that had been floated by senior Republicans.

Also on Tuesday, the Alabama Republican congressional delegation met to walk through their options and opted to take a wait-and-see approach. None of the six members has withdrawn his or her endorsement of Moore.

The White House, meanwhile, is poring over survey results. Trump remained silent about the situation on Wednesday, ignoring questions from reporters about Alabama after he delivered extensive public remarks on his 12-day Asia tour. Vice President Mike Pence, his chief of staff, Nick Ayers, and the administration’s political director, Bill Stepien, are helping to steer the administration’s decision-making process on the Alabama race.

Moore, meanwhile, dug in. The candidate’s attorney, Phillip Jauregui, held a Wednesday afternoon news conference in which he challenged the account of an accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, who said earlier this week that Moore had assaulted her when she was 16. Jauregui pointed out that Nelson had said there had been no contact between her and Moore after the incident. In fact, he said, Moore was the presiding judge on a 1999 divorce judgment between Nelson and her husband.

Jauregui also disputed Nelson’s claim that Moore had once signed her high school yearbook with the inscription, “Love, Roy Moore D.A.”

"Judge Moore says there is no way in the world that's his handwriting," Jauregui said, adding that Moore’s team was asking for the yearbook to be released in order for a handwriting analysis to be conducted.

"I've been with him in probably over 100 different meetings and been around probably an excess of 10,000 different ladies ... not one time have I ever seen him act even remotely inappropriate against any woman," he added.

Within moments after the news conference wrapped up, a new Moore accuser emerged. Tina Johnson told al.com that Moore grabbed her buttocks during a 1991 meeting at Moore’s law office.

"He didn't pinch it; he grabbed it," Johnson told the outlet.

And hours later, The Washington Post published a new account of two other women who said Moore pursued them when one was almost 18 and the other 22 working at a local mall.

Moore has denied sexually assaulting or harassing any woman, though he has said he might have dated teenagers when he was in his 30s.

The Alabama Republican Party was to meet on Tuesday night to discuss the race, though there is widespread doubt that the organization will do anything to undermine Moore’s candidacy.

Within the White House there has been hesitancy to act, in part because Moore has been able to maintain substantial support from state GOP officials.

While Trump has been quiet, those close to McConnell hope the president will urge Moore to drop out. The president might be nudged off the sidelines by one of his staunchest supporters, conservative radio show host Sean Hannity. On Tuesday night, Hannity, who had previously endorsed Moore, demanded that the candidate explain “inconsistencies” in his denials within 24 hours.

One key figure, however, is sticking by Moore: former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. People close to Bannon pushed back against a report that the Breitbart chief was considering abandoning the Alabama candidate.

Some of Moore’s detractors in Alabama are struck by how loyal Moore's supporters have been.

Alabama radio show host Leland Whaley, who has criticized the candidate on air, said he's gotten an earful from listeners in return.

“I have been looking over my shoulder because these people are really, really intense right now. It’s a charged environment, a little more than usual right now,” he said. “I have to watch my back in the parking lot, because these people do take it seriously.”



CORRECTION: Phillip Jauregui's last name was spelled incorrectly in an earlier version of this article.