It looks like pedophilia may be the issue that determines the Alabama Senate race.
With Republican candidate Roy Moore fighting accusations that he sexually molested a 14-year-old girl when he was a 32-year-old lawyer, the latest polls from the race to permanently fill Jeff Sessions’ old Senate seat show Democratic challenger Doug Jones in the lead by four points, after previously trailing in the polls by eight points.
The Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star tweeted the latest poll results from polling firm JMC Analytics, who surveyed Alabama voters beginning on Thursday after the news about the accusations against Moore broke.
New Alabama poll: Doug Jones 46%, Roy Moore 42%. First poll to show Jones in the lead. https://t.co/HVJlVUjucf
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 12, 2017
Democrats can’t be too complacent about the election, however, despite the scandal. With a margin of error of 4%, the poll essentially shows the race about even, and the results for some questions asked in the poll demonstrate that pedophilia may not be toxic enough for some Alabama voters to prevent them from voting for the Republican candidate.
For instance, asked the question:
Given the allegations that have come out about Roy Moore’s alleged sexual misconduct against four underage women, are you more or less likely to support him as a result of these allegations?
29% of Alabama voters polled said that the charges made them more likely to support Moore, and 33% said it made no difference. That’s 62% of Alabama voters who would rather have a pedophile in Congress than a Democrat. Who knew about this hidden underbelly of actual pedophilia fans in Alabama? Somebody please warn every underage girl in the state.
The poll also shows that the number of people who think Moore is qualified for the Senate has dropped below 50% for the first time, but the margin of error proves that this race won’t be over until the last vote is counted.