WASHINGTON ― A member of the Republican National Committee resigned Monday over the committee’s support for Roy Moore, the Alabama GOP Senate candidate who faces multiple accusations of preying on teenage girls decades ago.
In an email addressed to her fellow RNC members, Nebraska committeewoman Joyce Simmons said she “strongly” disagrees with the RNC’s recent decision to reinstate its financial support for the controversial Senate nominee after initially cutting off funding in the wake of the allegations. The RNC reversed its stance in the race after President Donald Trump offered his full endorsement to Moore.
“I will miss so many of you that I knew well: and I wish I could have continued my service to the national Republican Party that I used to know well,” Simmons wrote in an email obtained by the Associated Press.
Simmons did not immediately return a request for comment.
In her email, Simmons associated herself with comments made by Republican Richard Shelby, Alabama’s senior senator, over the weekend.
He added: “I think the Republican Party can do better.”
The campaign of Doug Jones, Moore’s Democratic opponent in Tuesday’s special election, featured Shelby’s comments in digital advertisements on Sunday and Monday, in a bid to attract Republican voters turned off by Moore.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also panned the RNC’s decision to back Moore in a separate interview on Sunday.
“I’m disappointed that the RNC has resumed its support of Roy Moore,” Collins said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I think that’s a mistake.”