The poll shows Roy Moore (pictured) trailing Democratic candidate Doug Jones. | Brynn Anderson/AP Photo NRSC poll: Moore trails Jones by 12

Republican Roy Moore is trailing Democrat Doug Jones by 12 points in the Alabama special Senate election, according to a poll conducted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee after five women accused Moore of pursuing them as teenagers.

Jones led Moore 51 to 39 percent, according to the survey taken Sunday and Monday. The NRSC withdrew its support for Moore after the Washington Post published the first allegations against Moore on Thursday, and the group’s chairman, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) said Moore should be expelled from the Senate if he wins on Dec. 12.


The poll shows a dramatic turn against Moore in Alabama: In early October, a committee poll had him leading by 16 points, and a survey early this month had him up by 9 points. Moore’s favorability numbers also tanked, from 49 percent in early October to 35 percent in the NRSC’s latest poll.

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Several sources who reviewed the poll results said it also tested how Attorney General Jeff Sessions would fare as a write-in candidate, and the results were not favorable. Sessions held the seat for two decades before he joined the Trump administration, and he has been floated as a potential write-in candidate.

The survey was conducted Nov. 12-13 among 500 registered Alabama voters. POLITICO obtained a summary of some, but not all, of the poll numbers.

Other polls taken in the immediate aftermath of the accusations against Moore showed a closer race.

