Roy Moore, Republican candidate for Senate and alleged child molester, enjoys much of his political longevity to his celebrity status within the Christian right. The gay bashing, the Ten Commandments fetish, barring Muslims from serving in Congress—Moore’s most extreme positions are precisely what makes him a beloved figure to so many white evangelicals. This hasn’t always translated to popularity within his home state of Alabama—winning the GOP primary is the closest he’s gotten to higher office—but it has established his reputation as an authentic Christian. One poll conducted before The Washington Post broke the accusations against Moore had him up 11 points over Democrat Doug Jones, who, by contrast, has campaigned on the fact that he prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan members responsible for bombing the 16th Street Baptist Church.

Reminder that Roy Moore, accused of sexual misconduct with teens, has said same-sex marriage will lead to child abuse. — andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) November 10, 2017

Moore and Jones represent the two faces of the South. Moore’s Christianity is as reactionary as his Alabama; Jones, with his civil rights background and his mainline Methodism, is the opposite. This distinction is even sharper now that four women have gone on record to accuse Moore of outright sexual misconduct and/or inappropriate “dating” when he was an adult in his thirties and they were teenagers. These revelations raise questions that had seemingly been answered, when Moore was on track to easily win the race. Is Alabama the state of Roy Moore, or is it the state of Doug Jones? Given the state’s large number of white evangelicals, they will likely dictate its direction for the foreseeable future. So the answer depends on a second question: Will they desert Roy Moore?

Some pundits seem to think they will:

Polling before this story has Roy Moore with an average 6-pt lead, behind for a Republican in Alabama. His base is made up of the evangelicals this story will likely offend. — Amber Phillips (@byamberphillips) November 9, 2017

It’s true that evangelicals have, at times, seemed lukewarm on Moore, but the Christian right’s admiration for the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice has been pretty consistent. He recently appeared at the same Values Voter Summit that hosted Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and Sebastian Gorka to great applause. And even the national GOP hasn’t been as full-throated in their condemnation of Moore as one would expect: Republicans have mostly restricted themselves to the milquetoast acknowledgement that he should withdraw from the race if the allegations are true.

For its part, the Alabama GOP, which is particularly far-right and particularly fanatical, has been emphatic that he should stay. Worse, many aren’t even denying the allegations.