Democrat Stacey Evans has seized on Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore's candidacy in next week's election, with a call for her GOP opponents in the race for Georgia governor to disavow the embattled contender and a petition urging Georgia voters to do the same.
The former state lawmaker on Thursday said Republicans who support his candidacy “by not explicitly disavowing it threatens the integrity of the great state of Georgia,” invoking the spate of allegations that he made sexual advances on teenage girls when he was in his 30s.
“I call on Republicans who wish to govern the state we all call home, a state whose motto is ‘Wisdom, Justice, Moderation’ to follow some of their party elders and colleagues, and disavow Moore as a candidate for the U.S. Senate,” she said.
Her Democratic rival, ex-Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, echoed Evans’ call with a plea to repudiate Moore “given the horrific and credible allegations levied against him.”
“By refusing to disavow Moore, the Republican Party is demonstrating that they would rather support partisan alliances than the wellbeing of the women and girls they claim to represent,” Abrams said.
Several Republicans used the challenge as a chance to swing back.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp said he unequivocally condemns sexual harassment and that people who use their positions of power to take advantage of others should be “tried, sentenced and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
But he added he had little say in the affairs next door: “In Alabama, voters - not I - have an important decision to make at the ballot box next week. If Stacey Evans is so concerned about elections in other states, maybe she should run for president too."
It was a reference to Abrams' comment about her intention to run for the White House in about a decade.
Another GOP candidate for governor, state Sen. Michael Williams, said Moore should be considered “innocent until proven guilty.”
"On the other hand, Moore's opponent, Doug Jones, has admitted to supporting partial birth abortion," he said, referring to a GOP attack line that Jones has said was inaccurate.
“We simply cannot have another pro-abortion Democrat in the US Senate. Will Stacey disavow the killing of innocent babies?"
Two other Republican contenders, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and former state Sen. Hunter Hill, declined comment on Moore.
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