Sen. Shelby: Write-in preferable to Moore

Most state GOP leaders support embattled candidate despite allegations of misconduct

MONTGOMERY, ALA. » In his sternest rebuke yet, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby said repeatedly Sunday his state can “do better” than electing fellow Republican Roy Moore to the U.S. Senate, making clear that a write-in candidate was far preferable to a man accused of sexual misconduct.

Days before the pivotal race, Shelby, who is Alabama's senior senator, said he had already cast an absentee ballot for another, unspecified Republican, even as other prominent state Republicans fell in line behind Moore.

Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in the special election Tuesday to replace Jeff Sessions, now the U.S. attorney general.

“I couldn't vote for Roy Moore. I didn't vote for Roy Moore. But I wrote in a distinguished Republican name. And I think a lot of people could do that,” Shelby told CNN's “State of the Union.”

“The state of Alabama deserves better,” he said.

“There's a lot of smoke,” Shelby said of Moore and his accusers. “Got to be some fire somewhere.”

The accusations against Moore have left many GOP voters and leaders in a quandary. Voters face the decision of whether to vote for Moore, accused of sexual misconduct with teenagers decades ago when he was a county prosecutor, or sending Jones to Washington, which would narrow the GOP's already precarious majority in the Senate.

They also could write in a name on their ballots or simply stay home. Meanwhile, most GOP politicians in the state must run for reelection next year — where they will face Moore's enthusiastic voting base at the polls.

Shelby said allegations that Moore had molested a 14-year-girl in particular were a “tipping point” in disqualifying him. His latest comments cast fresh doubt on a former judge that President Donald Trump and most Republican leaders in Alabama are backing to help maintain the party's narrow 5248 majority in the Senate.

Shelby's outspokenness against a man who could become his colleague was the exception rather than the rule.