Alabama gov rejects idea to delay special election

Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is undercutting the idea that Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) could resign and delay next month’s special election now that GOP nominee Roy Moore is hobbled by scandal. 

Washington Republicans have been scrambling to find a path forward after women began accusing Moore of various degrees of inappropriate sexual conduct when they were teenagers and he was an adult. In one case, a woman claims that Moore touched her sexually while she was 14 years old. 

One long-shot option that’s been mulled is that Strange, who was appointed to fill the seat temporarily after Jeff Sessions left it to become attorney general, could step down before the election and reset the clock. Politico reported on Wednesday that top McConnell advisers have floated the idea. 

{mosads}

But Ivey shot that prospect down in an interview with AL.com, the top chain of newspapers in the state. 

“The election date is set for Dec. 12. Were he to resign I would simply appoint somebody to fill the remaining time until we have the election on Dec. 12,” she said. 

Strange had previously swatted aside the idea — he told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that he had no intention of resigning. 

“I’m going to serve [my term] out, serve the people of the state, try and get tax reform, and be the best senator I can be,” he told the paper.

Republicans in Washington are increasingly worried about losing the seat, particularly after an internal National Republican Senatorial Committee poll that found Moore 12 points behind Democrat Doug Jones. But Moore has promised to press on and the state party has shown no signs of abandoning him. 

Several GOP senators have said Moore should be expelled from the chamber if he wins, and others have floated a write-in campaign for Strange.