Birmingham Young Republicans withdraw Moore support

The Greater Birmingham Young Republicans voted Thursday to pull the group’s endorsement of Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, and urged the state’s Republican Party to do the same.

In a statement Thursday that blasted Moore for allegations he attempted sexual contact with underage girls, the group wrote that it believes in “innocence until proven guilty, but not electability until proven guilty.”

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The Birmingham Young Republicans is “committed to protecting women and children from similar acts of sexual misconduct,” the group wrote.

The successfully passed motion was tweeted by Collier Tynes, former chief of staff to former Alabama first lady Dianne Bentley, who called the vote “the best birthday present ever.”

The @GBYRs have passed the attached resolution to revoke support of Roy Moore.

We are the first Alabama GOP group to revoke our endorsement and choose character before politics.

This is the best birthday present ever. #alsen pic.twitter.com/85dw2Ygrpa

— Collier Tynes (@colliertynes) November 17, 2017

A former state Supreme Court chief justice, Moore was accused in a Washington Post investigation last week of initiating sexual contact with underage girls while he was serving as a district attorney. Moore was in his 30s at the time, while some of the women who came forward were as young as 14 when they say the incidents occurred.

Moore “has yet to provide credible evidence or explanation to discredit these allegations,” the Young Republicans added in their statement.

Top Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have called on Moore to exit the race in the face of the allegations, but Moore has vowed to stay in. He has called the allegations a joint effort between the media and Democrats to discredit his campaign.

“I believe they are politically motivated. I believe they are brought only to stop a very successful campaign, and that’s what they are doing,” Moore said last Friday of the allegations.

Moore is set to face Democrat Doug Jones in a December special election for the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In September, Moore defeated Sen. Luther Stranger (R-Ala.), who currently holds the seat, in a GOP primary runoff.