With little fanfare, internal polling gives Roy Moore lead in U.S. Senate race

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Sometimes, the most money (or pull) does not guarantee a candidate a polling lead.

While incumbent Sen. Luther Strange has financial and institutional support, and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks gathering congressional backing, it is former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore leading in the GOP primary for Strange’s Senate seat.

As Daniel Strauss of POLITICO reports, Brooks’ internal polling is showing the firebrand ex-judge – who was suspended from the state Supreme Court over his refusal to honor the federal same-sex marriage ruling – leading the Republican primary field of nearly a dozen candidates with 31 percent.

Strange is next at 23 percent, with Brooks at 21 percent; other candidates grouped below the 5 percent threshold.

Moore has received less attention than his Washington-centric opponents for the Aug. 15 primary for Attorney General Jeff Sessions‘ old Senate seat.

“But he could be an unusually strong obstacle for Strange in an age of unsettled Republican primaries,” Strauss writes. “Moore is hoping his years of high-profile religious fights on the Alabama Supreme Court will fuel his run more than a high-budget campaign would have.”