Conservative Republican Roy Moore leads liberal Democrat Doug Jones by seven points in the Alabama U.S. Senate special election that will be held next Tuesday, 50 percent to 43 percent.
There were four percent undecided and three percent for write-in candidate Lee Busby, according to a new Raycom News Network/Strategy Research Poll of likely voters released on Tuesday.
“The statewide telephone poll of 3,200 was conducted Monday night between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.,” WBRC reported, making it the most recently conducted poll of the closely watched and hotly contested race:
Fifty-nine percent identified themselves as typically voting in the Republican primary and 33% identified themselves as typical Democrat primary voters. Eight percent considered themselves as independent or not typically voting in party primaries. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
The party affiliation of those included in the poll’s sample closely mirrors actual recent voting behavior in Alabama, a state that Donald Trump won by 28 points over Hillary Clinton in 2016, 63 percent to 35 percent.
“The new poll suggests Moore has regained some support after a dip in a November 21st RNN poll that showed a statistical tie between Moore and Jones. The November 21st poll followed 12 days of controversy surrounding allegations that Moore had pursued some teenage girls either sexually or romantically in the late 1970’s when he was in his 30’s and working as an assistant prosecutor in Etowah County. Moore has denied the allegations,” WBRC reported, adding:
Among party lines, three of every four respondents (75%) who identified as typical Republican voters said they would vote for Moore. Twelve percent of Republican voters said they would vote for Jones if the election were held today. Eighty-seven percent of Democrats said they would vote for Jones.
“We’re polling on a regular basis internally and it’s showing our lead to be about the same thing. It’s growing,” Moore campaign chairman Bill Armistead said in response to the poll results.
The Jones campaign had not immediately provided a statement at the time this story was published.
“A lot of momentum coming in on Roy Moore’s side,” Strategy Research pollster Jon Gray told WBRC.
“I think we’re starting to see a change in the vote from a few weeks ago when Roy Moore was really losing Republicans across the board,” Gray concluded.
The current Real Clear Politics Average of Polls shows Roy Moore with a 2.3 point lead over Jones.