'Absolutely not': Richard Shelby won't vote for Roy Moore

Capping days of growing criticism, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby told reporters Wednesday he will not vote for Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore.

Shelby — who on Monday suggested Moore should leave the race following allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers — said he would “absolutely not” vote for the former Alabama chief justice in the Dec. 12 general election.

CNN reported that the state’s senior senator said he would write in a “distinguished Republican” for the seat.

Messages left with Moore’s campaign were not immediately returned Wednesday. Shelby's office Wednesday confirmed the CNN report. Moore faces Democratic nominee Doug Jones in next month's election.

Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., who Moore defeated in the Sept. 26 GOP runoff, said Wednesday he was focused on passing a tax bill through Congress.

“It’s up to the people of Alabama now….They’ll have to make that decision,’’ he said. “We’ll see how it plays out.”

“It’s interesting times,” he said as he walked away from a reporter.

Five women have accused Moore of pursuing relationships with them as teenagers while he was an assistant district attorney in Gadsden from 1977 to 1982. One, Leigh Corfman, told the Washington Post that she was 14 when Moore, then 32, took her to his home, undressed her and initiated sexual contact with her. The age of consent in Alabama, then and now, is 16.

Another woman, Beverly Nelson, said on Monday that she was 16 when Moore offered her a ride home from her job as a waitress in Gadsden. Nelson said Moore attacked her in the car, groping her and squeezing her neck trying to pull it toward his crotch.

Moore has called the allegations “completely false” and threatened to sue media companies reporting them. He also says he did not know Corfman and Nelson, though he has acknowledged knowing two other women who say he pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers. The former chief justice has also accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., of trying to undermine his candidacy. McConnell said earlier this week he believes Moore’s accusers.

The women have stood by their stories. Attorneys for Nelson and Gloria Deason, who said Moore bought her wine when she was underage, said they would be willing to testify to their stories under oath.

USA Today's Deborah Barfield Berry contributed to this report.