The Latest: Republican Roy Moore casts himself as victim

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on the Alabama Senate race (all times local):

2:10 p.m.

Republican Roy Moore is casting himself as a victim in the Alabama U.S. Senate race.

In a call to a conservative talk radio show in Montgomery on Monday, Moore took aim at a political group called Highway 31, which has run ads hammering Moore over alleged sexual misconduct involving teen girls. The group hasn’t disclosed its donors as it supports Democrat Doug Jones.

Moore says the ads have been “ugly.” He laments the tone of the campaign and says he’s been the recipient of vicious, unfounded attacks.

Still, Moore is expressing confidence in Tuesday’s outcome.

He also claimed a potential surprising variable: support within the black community that leans overwhelmingly Democratic in Alabama.

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1:25 p.m.

A House Democrat wants to know what preventative steps are being taken to protect teenage pages if Alabama elects Roy Moore.

Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore wrote to Senate Sergeant at Arms Frank Larkin saying she was urgently concerned that young men and women working as pages would need protection if Moore wins on Tuesday.

Moore faces several allegations of sexual misconduct, including the accusation that he molested a 14-year-old girl decades ago when he was in his 30s. He has denied the accusations.

Senate pages must be high school juniors, at least 16 years old, and attend school. Their duties include delivering legislation and correspondence at the Capitol. They attend classes in the morning.

Moore wrote that Congress has an obligation to keep the pages safe.

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10:15 a.m.

Democratic candidate Doug Jones says Republican Roy Moore is hiding in the closing days of Alabama’s U.S. Senate campaign.

Jones stopped by a breakfast spot in Birmingham early Monday to greet voters. So many media members were present that only a few other people could get inside.

Jones chided Republican Roy Moore for being out of sight ahead of Tuesday’s election. He says Moore was out of state over the weekend.

Moore was in Montgomery on Sunday afternoon, but his campaign hasn’t responded to questions about his whereabouts over the rest of the weekend.

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9:19 a.m.

Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden have recorded calls urging turnout in Alabama’s heated race for U.S. Senate.

A person familiar with the campaign said Monday that Obama had recorded a message in support of Democrat Doug Jones. Jones is attempting to become the first Alabama Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in 25 years. He is locked in a heated battle with Republican Roy Moore.

Biden held a rally for Jones in Birmingham, Ala. earlier this year and has also recorded a call for Jones.

The Jones camp is sending out dozens of types of calls on the eve of the election to urge turnout. They include a news clip in which Republican Sen. Richard Shelby said that Alabama deserves better than Moore.

President Donald Trump has recorded a call urging people to vote for Moore.

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8:45 a.m.

An official has quit the Republican National Committee over the GOP’s support of Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who faces accusations of sexual assault and harassment.

Joyce Simmons, the GOP national committeewoman from Nebraska, emailed the 168-member governing body Monday to inform them that she had tendered her resignation. She writes: “I strongly disagree with the recent RNC financial support directed to the Alabama Republican Party for use in the Roy Moore race.”

Simmons adds that she wishes she could have continued her service “to the national Republican Party that I used to know well.’

The RNC had pulled support from Moore after the allegations surfaced against him last month. But the organization re-entered the race once President Donald Trump endorsed Moore, citing the need for a Republican in the seat.

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3:35 a.m.

Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones are making their final pushes ahead of Tuesday’s special Senate election in Alabama.

Jones and Democrats are framing the election as a way for Alabama to reject its history of politicians with baggage that hampers the state.

Republicans say it is about keeping a conservative hold on Alabama and not giving Democrats any opportunity to derail President Donald Trump’s agenda before the 2018 midterms.

In truth, the matchup is a mix of Alabama’s history and the partisan divides plaguing Washington.

Jones says it would be disastrous to elect Moore after the former judge was accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls. Moore denies the charges.

Moore and other Republicans say Jones would be a puppet of liberal Democratic leaders out of step with Alabama.

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