Roy Moore's 2017 Senate campaign in Alabama was marred by allegations of sexual misconduct which cost him a narrow loss to Dem Doug Jones

Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for the Senate in Alabama, faced accusations of sexual misconduct from at least nine women just weeks before the special election to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On November 9, The Washington Post reported that Moore allegedly forced a 14-year-old girl into a sexual encounter in 1979 when he was 32.

Leigh Corfman, now 53, told The Post that Moore took off her "shirt and pants and removed his clothes," touched her "over her bra and underpants," and "guided her hand to touch him over his underwear" during the encounter when she was 14. Three additional women said in the same report that Moore made inappropriate advances toward them while he was in his early 30s and they were between 16 and 18. None of the women claimed Moore forced them into any relationship or sexual contact.

Despite the allegations, Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated Moore in Alabama's Senate special election, receiving 50 percent of the vote to Moore's 48 percent. Jones's victory marked a significant win for Democrats in a deeply conservative state where Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump by 28 points in the 2016 presidential election.

Moore's loss can be attributed to his unpopularity, which resulted in underperformance in statewide elections even before he faced accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against teenage girls. The election was further upended when multiple women alleged in mid-November 2017 that Moore had made unwanted advances or sexually assaulted them when he was in his early thirties and they were teenagers, drawing national media attention to the election.

In summary, Roy Moore's 2017 Senate campaign in Alabama was marred by allegations of sexual misconduct and resulted in a narrow defeat by Democrat Doug Jones, who became the first Democrat in over two decades to win a U.S. Senate seat in the state.