Alabama GOP senator: I voted for a write-in instead of Moore

GOP Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby said on Monday that he did not vote for Republican nominee Roy Moore in the state’s Senate special election.

“No, no, no, I voted absentee. I didn’t vote for him. I voted for a distinguished Republican write-in,” Shelby told reporters when asked if he would vote for Moore, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. 

Shelby didn’t say whose name he wrote in. 

Lee Busby,  a former aide to White House chief of staff John Kelly, is planning to start a write-in campaign, and Republican leaders had floated a write-in campaign for Sen. Luther Strange, who lost the primary to Moore. 

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GOP senators have scrambled to distance themselves from Moore, who is accused of pursuing, inappropriately touching or sexually assaulting a string of teenagers when he was in his 30s. 

Moore has denied wrongdoing, and it’s too late for Republicans to remove his name from the ballot for the Dec. 12 election. 

Shelby’s comments on Monday come after he told reporters earlier this month that he would “probably” write in a candidate rather than support Moore. 

“Well, it’s not a good situation. I wish we had another candidate,” Shelby told reporters at the time. 

Shelby, like most GOP senators, endorsed Strange, who was appointed to the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in the primary.

Democratic candidate Doug Jones is currently leading in the polls by less than a percentage point, according to the Real Clear Politics average.