One of the most competitive and interesting elections in the United States is occurring in the state of Alabama [a Republican stronghold] amid recent allegations of sexual assault against the Republican nominee. His cold response to these claims, as well as a recent surge of reconsideration of his past actions, has led voters in the Yellowhammer State to assert their opposition to him.

This election has been unusual since it first began: following the resignation of Jeff Sessions in order to become U.S. Attorney General, the Republican who was appointed to his seat [Luther Strange] was shockingly defeated in the primary by Judge Roy Moore, who was well known for his radical Evangelical Christian views.

The last year has been a mess for the state with three previous, widely publicized, political scandals: Governor Bentley’s resignation after a sexual assault allegation and corruption charges, the Speaker of the State Houses’ removal from office after being convicted of 12 felonies, and Moore’s own suspension from the Alabama Supreme Court following ethics violations.

Moore was always seen as an extremist; his extremely conservative views were centered around his Evangelical beliefs, and included famous statements such as that transgender people “don’t have rights” and that Muslims should not be allowed to serve in Congress.

The Democratic nominee [Doug Jones] is a fairly well known former federal attorney who had prosecuted a famous case against Klu Klux Klan members who bombed a church, killing four young black girls.

The Republican candidate’s controversial views already have resulted in a closer-than-expected race in the polls, but in early November Moore’s campaign went quickly downhill; A group of Alabama women accused him of sexually assaulting them when they were in high school. His initial response was that he did not know the women, and Jones quickly rose in polls as new evidence against him began to emerge. Many national Republicans pulled their endorsements, with some even calling for him to withdraw from the race.

Moore’s despicable response to credible accusations was by claiming it was a liberal conspiracy orchestrated by “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered who want to change our culture”, pointing out the timing of the accusations and ignoring the women’s evidence against him. Many individuals from his hometown of Gadsden recall Moore’s tendency to date teenage girls and his ban from the mall for attempting to do so.

Jimmy Kimmel, a talk show host, engaged in a famous Twitter war with Moore after crashing his campaign rally by sending a man to mock him. President Trump officially endorsed him Dec. 5, while at the same time calling for Democratic Senator Al Franken to resign for much more minor allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The Republican National Convention also reinstated their support of Moore. Nearly a month after the allegations, and just days before the election on Dec 12, Roy Moore has again obtained a lead in most polls.

In the days immediately before the election, it is clear that this race is a toss-up; polls differ greatly, anywhere from  a 9 point Moore lead and a 10 point lead by Jones. Al Franken’s announced resignation from the Senate based on less serious allegations of sexual misconduct have set a standard, essentially giving the Democratic party a moral high ground if Moore wins, which is contrary to the beliefs of the more religiously driven Republican party. Even Alabama Republican Senator Shelby pulled his endorsement for Moore, saying that Moore would be embarrassing to the state and hard to work with efficiently.

Alabama citizens have, for the most part, been convinced that the sexual assault claims are a liberal conspiracy and have justified their support of Moore by Jones’s view on abortion. The citizens of Alabama need to ask themselves what they truly believe, and combat the negative view their state has adopted in recent years. They should consider the words of Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who recently donated to Doug Jones’ campaign with this justification: “Country over party”. Voters should attempt to realize that putting an extremist and offensive man into our Senate will only make matters worse for the country. In the Deep South, partisanship is such a blinding force that I would not be surprised in the least to see Moore win by 5 points on Tuesday.