Respondents in a last-days Alabama poll released on Monday were overwhelmingly resolved in their decisions to choose Judge Roy Moore over political appointee Luther Strange for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions earlier this year.
In the race being widely viewed as a referendum on the Washington, D.C. establishment, Moore has continued to lead despite establishment GOP forces dumping millions upon millions of donor dollars into the race for Strange.
This new Cygnal/L2 poll was conducted on Saturday and Sunday, just hours after President Donald Trump held a Friday night rally for Strange in the state. Moore garnered 52 percent support in the poll of 996 Republican runoff voters, according to AL.com. Strange lagged double digits behind with just 41 percent. Even with the poll’s 3.1 percent margin of error, Moore comes out comfortably ahead of Strange.
Last Thursday night, former Alaska Governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin rallied for Moore. She was joined by former deputy assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka and Rep. Louie Gohmert. Palin clearly conveyed that the race is a battle between the D.C. swamp, that wants Strange, and the candidate she’s backing, Moore. She urged voters to “send the loudest message you can send to D.C. at this time.”
Trump Administration HUD Secretary Ben Carson has also backed Moore. He is one of 25 key conservatives to endorse Judge Moore in the race.
Breitbart News Executive Chairman and former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, Brexit leader Nigel Farage ,and Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson will hold a campaign rally for Judge Moore at Oak Hollow Farm in Fairhope, Alabama at 7:00 p.m. central time.
Vice President Mike Pence will also hold a campaign rally in Alabama on Monday night, but for Strange. Trump backed Strange ahead of the August primary election in which Moore came in first and Strange second to move onto Tuesday’s runoff election.
Strange was appointed to Sessions’ Senate seat by now ousted Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, who told reporters that when he spoke to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about whom to appoint, Strange was the first name that crossed McConnell’s lips. A number of Alabamans have expressed concern about the questionable nature of the Strange appointment. Strange asked the Alabama legislature to halt investigation into then-Gov. Bentley ahead of Strange’s appointment to the Senate.
The McConnell-tied Senate Leadership fund has thrown copious millions behind Strange who has continually trailed in the polls.
Cygnal VP of research & analytics Matt Hubbard pointed out in a memo on the new poll that Strange isn’t leading in even one demographic group, according to AL.com. The poll was entitled, “A near certainty Moore wins tomorrow.”
Palin has urged Alabamans to get out and vote for Moore. In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News the night of the Thursday evening rally for Moore, Palin said that the movement that elected Donald Trump in 2016 is behind Judge Moore in Alabama.
During Trump’s Friday night rally for Strange he stated that he “might have made a mistake” in endorsing Strange and pledged that if Moore wins, “I’m going to be here campaigning like hell for him.” Trump reaffirmed this pledge during a Monday interview on the Rick and Bubba radio show.
On Monday’s edition of the Breitbart News Daily radio program, Bannon told listeners that the race is a “national race with global implications.” He stated that it represents “corporate money versus grassroots muscle.” Bannon had described the mountain of D.C. establishment money behind Strange: “If you add up the first round and the second round, over $30 million of corporate money – this corporatist donor, consultant, lobbyist, politician cabal, this cartel that runs Washington, D.C. They’ve taken over $30 million, and what have they done? This hasn’t been a policy discussion down here, Raheem. It’s the politics of personal destruction. It’s what Andrew Breitbart absolutely hated.”
“I think it’s going to come down to turnout, and it’s going to come down to people being motivated,” Bannon told the Breitbart News radio listeners on the morning before Tuesday’s runoff election.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.