The Republican National Committee abandoned Monday its efforts to support the candidacy of Roy Moore for the U.S. Senate seat of Alabama.
What support did the RNC pull from Moore's campaign?
A senior party official confirmed to Politico that the RNC had pulled out of a joint fundraising agreement. The RNC is pulling several staffers who were canvassing for the Moore campaign on the ground in Alabama.
Politico reports that the RNC had internal polling from a week prior showing that Moore had fallen to only 2 points ahead of his Democratic competitor.
The National Republican Senate Committee had already pulled its support for the Moore campaign on Friday.
What are the allegations?
Moore has been fighting off allegations that he had inappropriate relations with underage women when he was in his thirties. One accuser said Moore groped her in 1977 when she was 16 years old. She produced a yearbook with a signature that appeared to be from Moore.
Has the scandal hurt Moore's chances in the election?
National Republicans have called for Moore to quit the race, and some have even said that the Senate should expel him should he be elected.
It's difficult to say if the scandal has hurt him most among those who will decide his fate: the voters of Alabama. In recent polls, it's clear that the scandal has hurt him, but it's unclear if it's hurt him enough to keep him from winning the election.
