The Alabama Republican Party has remained silent since the Washington Post reported that U.S. Senate nominee Roy Moore dated and had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was a 32-year-old county prosecutor.

Moore has strongly denied the allegation, including with a new statement today.

Some Alabama Republican officials have spoken out in support of Moore and said the allegation won't change their vote in the Dec. 12 special election against Democratic nominee Doug Jones.

Efforts to reach State GOP Chairwoman Terry Lathan have been unsuccessful.

Efforts to reach Alabama's top-ranking lawmakers, House Speaker Mac McCutcheon and Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh have also been unsuccessful. McCutcheon and Marsh, both Republicans, have endorsed Moore.

Click here to read AL.com's coverage of Roy Moore.

Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Montgomery, who said he voted for Luther Strange in the Republican primary but plans to vote for Moore next month, said it's hard to know what to think of the allegation against Moore.

"All of these events supposedly happened 38 years ago," Brewbaker said. "I have no idea how to fairly evaluate that. I don't want to come off the cuff and say if this really happened she should have said something before 38 years went by.

"People have all kind of reasons they do what they do. But on the other hand, I'm certainly not going to vote for a pro-choice Democrat, like Doug Jones ... that I disagree with on practically every political issue there is based on an unsubstantiated article from the Washington Post."

Brewbaker, who is not running for reelection next year, said if more substantial evidence emerges that the claims are true, it could change his mind.

"But based on what we know now on this Post article, I don't see how anybody evaluates it with any surety," he said. "It's 38 years ago and you've got the people that are making the accusations, I don't know anything about them. I don't know anything about their character."

Secretary of State John Merrill said the state Republican Party could remove Moore as its candidate, although it's too late for him to be taken off the ballot. There's no indication that will happen.

As for how the allegation affects his own vote, Merrill, who is a Republican, says it won't.

"I have intended to vote for Judge Moore. I intend to vote for Judge Moore," Merrill said.

Merrill, like many others have said, questioned why the allegation surfaces now, a month before a high-stakes Senate election, and has never emerged during Moore's long public career, including two runs for Supreme Court chief justice and two runs for governor.

"The timing of this is just very odd. Very, very interesting to me," Merrill said.

Rep. Rich Wingo, R-Tuscaloosa, who has endorsed Moore, is also sticking by the candidate and also questioned the timing of the story.

"I think everyone needs to ask themselves, why now?" Wingo said. "He's been in the public eye for 40 years. Why now?

"I still stand behind Judge Moore 100 percent. Judge Moore has always and does stand on a strong Christian foundation."