U.S. Sen. Luther Strange will need a big comeback if he's to get the Republican nomination in Alabama's Senate special election.

A poll released Sunday said that Strange trailed Roy Moore, former Alabama chief justice, by 19 points.

The runoff between Moore and Strange is Sept. 26. The winner will face former U.S. attorney Doug Jones in the Dec. 12 general election.

The poll was conducted by Louisiana-based JMC Analytics and Polling, beginning two days after last week's GOP primary. The poll comprised 515 responses from an automated landline survey from Aug. 17-19.

Moore received 51 percent support in the poll while Strange got 32 percent and 17 percent of respondents said they were undecided.

The poll also asked if the endorsement Strange received from President Trump made a difference in their vote in the primary - 51 percent said it did not make a difference.

The poll indicated other negative factors for Strange. According to a summary of the poll findings, "it looks like the support of the defeated primary candidates has initially moved to Moore."

Moore collected 39 percent of the vote in the primary last week while Strange got 33 percent.

In particular, the poll summary said that the Huntsville base that helped give U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks a third-place finish "has largely realigned itself with Moore." Moore was polling at 52 percent to Strange's 29 percent in the Huntsville area.

"Former Chief Justice Roy Moore at the outset of the runoff has consolidated support from the 'also rans', and that when combined with his bedrock support among evangelicals is giving him a substantial initial lead, while appointed incumbent Luther Strange has not been helped by the support from both President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell," the poll's summary said in conclusion.

Meanwhile, Moore is bracing for a wave of attack ads from Strange in the five weeks leading up to the runoff. His campaign sent an email to supporters over the weekend with a subject line of "It's going to get nasty."

Moore's email also said that, "According to my finance team my campaign coffers are exhausted from (the primary)." Moore said he needs to raise $150,000 by the end of the month.

Fundraising has been considered a weakness for Moore.

"Friend, the Sept. 26 runoff election is THE ultimate national showdown between the Washington insiders and conservative Republicans who are sick of Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and the rest of the establishment in Washington," Moore's email said.

GOP Senate runoff poll by pgattis7719 on Scribd