Fox News poll: Roy Moore is falling behind his Democrat rival in the heated Alabama Senate race

AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Roy Moore.

• A Fox News poll published Thursday shows Roy Moore's Democratic opponent opening up a lead against him in the Alabama Senate race.
• Of the voters surveyed, 50% said they would vote for the Democratic nominee Doug Jones and 42% said they would choose Moore if the special election were held today.
• Polls were much tighter one week ago, before Moore's sexual harassment scandal intensified in the last few days.
• Moore has defied calls to exit the race and still enjoys support from the Alabama GOP, despite losing critical backing from the national Republican Party.

The embattled Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore has lost some ground against his Democrat opponent amid the fallout over Moore's sexual misconduct scandal.

A Fox News poll released on Thursday shows that, if the Alabama special election were held today, 50% of likely voters surveyed said they would vote for the Democratic nominee Doug Jones, and 42% said they would choose Moore.

The numbers were similar among registered voters, with 49% saying they would choose Jones and 40% saying they would select Moore, a notable shift for the deep-red state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in more than two decades.

The Fox News poll was conducted from November 13 to November 15, as the sexual harassment allegations against Moore gained momentum. Earlier polling averages cited by Real Clear Politics last week showed a tight race between the two candidates, while a Decision Desk HQ/Opinion Savvy tally placed Moore and Jones at 46.4% and 46%, respectively.

At least seven women have accused Moore of varying degrees of sexual harassment, one of whom said she was 14 years old when Moore initiated a sexual encounter with her. Other women have alleged that Moore made sexual overtures toward them when they were in high school and he was in his 30s.

Moore in the past week has offered mixed explanations for the charges - at points denying he knew the women or reasoning that he did not "generally" date teens as an adult.

Moore's lawyer fired back at Gloria Allred, the attorney for one of Moore's accusers, on Wednesday. Moore has remained defiant to calls urging him to drop out of the Senate race before the December 12 election, despite many top Republican figures and organizations publicly cutting ties with him.

The Alabama GOP said it would stand by Moore and President Donald Trump said through his press secretary on Thursday that Alabama voters should be the ones to decide his fate.