A new Alabama Senate poll released Thursday afternoon indicated that Democrat Doug Jones has an 8-point lead over embattled Republican Roy Moore.

Fox News conducted the poll under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research. The poll results were posted on the Anderson Robbins website.

The poll had a sample pool of 823 registered voters and a subsample of 649 likely voters and was conducted Monday through Wednesday. In both groups, Jones held the lead.

Click here for AL.com's coverage of Roy Moore.

Among registered voters, Jones had 49 percent support to Moore's 40 percent. Among likely voters, Jones had 50 percent support to Moore's 42 percent.

It's a continuation of a bizarre polling pattern in the Senate race that appears to follow no pattern. Two other polls released earlier this week had Moore leading by as many as 10 points. Meanwhile, a poll released Sunday had Jones leading by four points.

Asked about the allegations made against Moore by women who said he made unwanted romantic or sexual advances against them as teens when he was in his 30s, 38 percent of likely voters said they believed the accusers while 37 percent said they didn't know. Another 20 percent said they didn't know and 5 percent said it was too soon to know.

Among registered voters, 36 percent believed the accusers, 37 percent did not, 22 percent did not know and 5 percent said it was too soon to know.

Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Asked if Moore should remain in the race despite the allegations, 54 percent of both likely and registered voters said that he should.

Still, the poll indicates the allegations have damaged Moore's campaign. A Fox News poll last month among registered voters had the race tied at 42. The new poll has Jones increasing by 7 percent among registered voters while Moore lost two points.

That poll was considered an outlier at the time by poll experts in Alabama because it sampled only registered voters rather than likely voters.

Moore's favorability numbers have taken a hit, too. Of likely voters, 43 percent said they viewed Moore favorably and 42 percent of registered voters - a drop from 49 percent among registered voters last month.

When asked if Moore has a "strong moral character," 46 percent of likely voters said no, 41 percent said and 13 percent said they did not know. Among registered voters, 45 percent said no, 40 percent said yes and 15 percent said they didn't know.

The poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percent and included live telephone interviews on both landlines and cell phones.

Among poll participants who said they would vote for Jones, 62 percent said they would strongly support him while 58 percent of Moore backers said they would strongly support him.

Fox News Alabama Senate poll 11.16.17 by pgattis7719 on Scribd