Two more women came forward on Wednesday with allegations of sexual misconduct against embattled Republican US&nbsp;Senate candidate Roy Moore, one accusing him of groping her and the other of forcing a kiss on her when she was about 18.

They are the sixth and seventh women to accuse Moore of sexual improprieties.

Gena Richardson told the Washington Post that Moore, then a 30-year-old attorney, had repeatedly asked her for a date in 1977 just before or after she turned 18. Richardson said she finally agreed and went to a movie with Moore, the Post said.

In a dark parking lot at a mall in Gadsden, Alabama, Richardson said Moore gave her an unwanted, &quot;forceful&quot; kiss that scared her, the Post reported.

Another woman, Tina Johnson, told AL.com, an Alabama news site, that Moore groped her while she was in his Alabama law office on legal business in 1991.

Johnson, who was 28 at the time, said she visited Moore`s office with her mother, who had hired Moore in a custody case involving Johnson&#39;s 12-year-old son.

Johnson said Moore grabbed her buttocks as she left. &quot;He didn`t pinch it, he grabbed it,&quot; Johnson told AL.com.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations from either woman, and Moore&#39;s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Five other women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct or of dating them when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers, prompting a wave of demands from national Republican Party leaders that he drop out of the December&nbsp;12 special Senate election to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was named US&nbsp;attorney general last spring.

Moore, 70, on Wednesday denied the allegations of the first five women to step forward.

&quot;We are in the process of investigating these false allegations to determine their origin and motivation,&quot; he said in a statement.

Moore also said he believed a message that one of the accusers, Beverly Young Nelson, said he had written in her high school yearbook had been tampered with. Nelson accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16 and he was in his 30s.

Nelson displayed the yearbook message at a news conference in New York where she made the allegations on Monday. Moore`s campaign on Wednesday demanded that Nelson turn over the yearbook to a neutral custodian so a handwriting expert could examine it.

Republican leaders in Washington have asked Moore to withdraw from the race and said they are exploring write-in options for the election. The Alabama state party&#39;s leadership was meeting on Wednesday night to discuss their stance.

US&nbsp;Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has spoken to President Donald Trump and others about the situation. Trump appeared at the White House on Wednesday but did not make any mention of Moore.

Under state law, Moore cannot be removed from the ballot. If, however, the state party tells election officials that it wants to withdraw its nominee, or if Moore himself decided to do so, election officials would not certify any votes cast for Moore.&nbsp;

Before the allegations surfaced, Moore, a Christian conservative and former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice, had been heavily favored to defeat Democrat Doug Jones, a former US&nbsp;attorney. But a new poll on Wednesday, released by the Senate Republican&#39;s campaign arm, had Jones surging to a 12-point lead since the allegations surfaced.

A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump&#39;s agenda and shift the political outlook for next year&#39;s congressional elections, giving Democrats a stronger shot at wiping out the Republican&#39;s&nbsp;52-48 Senate majority.

Moore has suggested that McConnell and other establishment Republicans are working in tandem with news media to discredit him.

The Washington Post had first disclosed allegations by four women about their relationships with Moore when they were teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 18. One of the women said he initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14 and Moore was in his 30s.

They are the sixth and seventh women to accuse Moore of sexual improprieties.

Two more women came forward on Wednesday with allegations of sexual misconduct against embattled Republican US Senate candidate Roy Moore, one accusing him of groping her and the other of forcing a kiss on her when she was about 18. They are the sixth and seventh women to accuse Moore of sexual improprieties. Gena Richardson told the Washington Post that Moore, then a 30-year-old attorney, had repeatedly asked her for a date in 1977 just before or after she turned 18. Richardson said she finally agreed and went to a movie with Moore, the Post said. In a dark parking lot at a mall in Gadsden, Alabama, Richardson said Moore gave her an unwanted, "forceful" kiss that scared her, the Post reported. Another woman, Tina Johnson, told AL.com, an Alabama news site, that Moore groped her while she was in his Alabama law office on legal business in 1991. Johnson, who was 28 at the time, said she visited Moore`s office with her mother, who had hired Moore in a custody case involving Johnson's 12-year-old son. Johnson said Moore grabbed her buttocks as she left. "He didn`t pinch it, he grabbed it," Johnson told AL.com. Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegations from either woman, and Moore's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Five other women have accused Moore of sexual misconduct or of dating them when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers, prompting a wave of demands from national Republican Party leaders that he drop out of the December 12 special Senate election to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was named US attorney general last spring. Moore, 70, on Wednesday denied the allegations of the first five women to step forward. "We are in the process of investigating these false allegations to determine their origin and motivation," he said in a statement. Moore also said he believed a message that one of the accusers, Beverly Young Nelson, said he had written in her high school yearbook had been tampered with. Nelson accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16 and he was in his 30s. Nelson displayed the yearbook message at a news conference in New York where she made the allegations on Monday. Moore`s campaign on Wednesday demanded that Nelson turn over the yearbook to a neutral custodian so a handwriting expert could examine it. Republican leaders in Washington have asked Moore to withdraw from the race and said they are exploring write-in options for the election. The Alabama state party's leadership was meeting on Wednesday night to discuss their stance. US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has spoken to President Donald Trump and others about the situation. Trump appeared at the White House on Wednesday but did not make any mention of Moore. Under state law, Moore cannot be removed from the ballot. If, however, the state party tells election officials that it wants to withdraw its nominee, or if Moore himself decided to do so, election officials would not certify any votes cast for Moore. Before the allegations surfaced, Moore, a Christian conservative and former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice, had been heavily favored to defeat Democrat Doug Jones, a former US attorney. But a new poll on Wednesday, released by the Senate Republican's campaign arm, had Jones surging to a 12-point lead since the allegations surfaced. A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump's agenda and shift the political outlook for next year's congressional elections, giving Democrats a stronger shot at wiping out the Republican's 52-48 Senate majority. Moore has suggested that McConnell and other establishment Republicans are working in tandem with news media to discredit him. The Washington Post had first disclosed allegations by four women about their relationships with Moore when they were teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 18. One of the women said he initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14 and Moore was in his 30s.

Two more women accuse US Senate candidate Moore of sexual misconduct

US&nbsp;Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell led a chorus of establishment Republicans on Monday urging Roy Moore, the party&#39;s Senate candidate in Alabama, to quit the race as a fifth woman came forward with allegations Moore had sexual contact with teenage girls decades ago.

Beverly Young Nelson said Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 and he was a prosecuting attorney in his 30s. At a New York news conference, the tearful Nelson said Moore groped her, tried to pull her shirt off and shove her head in his lap, then warned that &quot;no one will believe you&quot; if she told anyone.

&quot;I was twisting and struggling and begging him to stop,&quot; said Nelson, a waitress at an Alabama restaurant where Moore often ate when the incident occurred. &quot;I had tears running down my face.&quot;

Moore, a Christian conservative and former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has refused to withdraw from the race. His campaign released a statement denying &quot;any sexual misconduct with anyone&quot; and saying the new allegations were part of a &quot;witch hunt.&quot;

McConnell told reporters in his home state of Kentucky that party officials were considering whether a Republican write-in candidate could be found to challenge Moore in the December&nbsp;12 special election.

&quot;I think he should step aside,&quot; said McConnell, who previously said Moore should leave the race if the allegations were true. &quot;I believe the women.&quot;

Republican Senators Orrin Hatch, Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Todd Young and Cory Gardner joined McConnell in calling for Moore to drop out - a move that could open the door for Democrats to cut into Republicans&#39;&nbsp;narrow two-seat Senate majority.

Gardner, the head of the Senate Republican campaign arm, said Moore was unfit to serve in the Senate.

&quot;If he refuses to withdraw and wins, the Senate should vote to expel him, because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate,&quot; Gardner said in a statement.

Senator John Cornyn, the Senate&#39;s number&nbsp;2 Republican, withdrew his endorsement but said Alabama voters should make the final judgement on Moore.

Another prominent conservative who had endorsed Moore, Senator Ted Cruz, said Moore should either clearly refute the allegations or if they are true, drop out. &quot;I am not able to urge the people of Alabama to support his candidacy so long as these allegations remain unrefuted,&quot; Cruz told reporters in the Capitol.&nbsp;

Moore, 70, had been a heavy favourite to win the election against Democrat Doug Jones. He has denied the allegations first raised in a Washington Post story about his relationships with four women when they were teenagers, including a charge he initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s.

He said on Twitter that McConnell was the person who should step down. &quot;He has failed conservatives and must be replaced,&quot; Moore said. 
 
The state party and many other Alabama Republicans have not wavered in their support of Moore, who scored a decisive Republican primary victory in September over Luther Strange. Strange, who drew the support of President

Donald Trump in the primary, had been appointed to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he became US&nbsp;attorney general earlier this year.

The growing furore over Moore sets up a confrontation between establishment Republicans and Moore`s supporters in the party&#39;s populist movement led by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump`s agenda and shift the political outlook for next year`s congressional elections, giving Democrats a stronger shot at recapturing control of the Senate.

It is too late to remove Moore&#39;s name from the ballot, but McConnell told reporters he was &quot;looking at&quot; potential write-in candidates who could mount a successful campaign. Asked if Strange might be a candidate again, he said: &quot;We&#39;ll see.&quot;

But Strange told reporters it was &quot;highly unlikely&quot; he would mount a write-in campaign. &quot;Now it&rsquo;s going to really be up to the people of our state to sort this out,&quot; he said.

A special-election victory had been a long shot for Democrats in Alabama, which has not elected a Democratic senator in a quarter century. Jones, a former federal prosecutor, was trailing by double digits in some opinion polls.

Moore, who is prone to incendiary comments on social and cultural issues, has survived controversy before. He was twice forced out of his position as chief justice, once for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse and once for defying the US&nbsp;Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

He threatened over the weekend to sue the Post and said the allegations were a smear campaign by his political opponents. Reuters has been unable to independently confirm any of the allegations.

While making the new allegations, Nelson showed reporters Moore&#39;s signature in her high school yearbook. She said he had offered to give her a ride home one night, then pulled the car behind the restaurant and assaulted her.

&quot;I was terrified,&quot; she said. &quot;I thought he was going to rape me.&quot;

Nelson said she told her sister about the attack two years afterward, and eventually told her mother and husband. She said she backed Trump for president and was not coming forward because of politics but because she was inspired by the women who talked to the Post.

Beverly Young Nelson said Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 and he was a prosecuting attorney in his 30s.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell led a chorus of establishment Republicans on Monday urging Roy Moore, the party's Senate candidate in Alabama, to quit the race as a fifth woman came forward with allegations Moore had sexual contact with teenage girls decades ago. Beverly Young Nelson said Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 and he was a prosecuting attorney in his 30s. At a New York news conference, the tearful Nelson said Moore groped her, tried to pull her shirt off and shove her head in his lap, then warned that "no one will believe you" if she told anyone. "I was twisting and struggling and begging him to stop," said Nelson, a waitress at an Alabama restaurant where Moore often ate when the incident occurred. "I had tears running down my face." Moore, a Christian conservative and former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has refused to withdraw from the race. His campaign released a statement denying "any sexual misconduct with anyone" and saying the new allegations were part of a "witch hunt." McConnell told reporters in his home state of Kentucky that party officials were considering whether a Republican write-in candidate could be found to challenge Moore in the December 12 special election. "I think he should step aside," said McConnell, who previously said Moore should leave the race if the allegations were true. "I believe the women." Republican Senators Orrin Hatch, Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Todd Young and Cory Gardner joined McConnell in calling for Moore to drop out - a move that could open the door for Democrats to cut into Republicans' narrow two-seat Senate majority. Gardner, the head of the Senate Republican campaign arm, said Moore was unfit to serve in the Senate. "If he refuses to withdraw and wins, the Senate should vote to expel him, because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate," Gardner said in a statement. Senator John Cornyn, the Senate's number 2 Republican, withdrew his endorsement but said Alabama voters should make the final judgement on Moore. Another prominent conservative who had endorsed Moore, Senator Ted Cruz, said Moore should either clearly refute the allegations or if they are true, drop out. "I am not able to urge the people of Alabama to support his candidacy so long as these allegations remain unrefuted," Cruz told reporters in the Capitol. Moore, 70, had been a heavy favourite to win the election against Democrat Doug Jones. He has denied the allegations first raised in a Washington Post story about his relationships with four women when they were teenagers, including a charge he initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s. He said on Twitter that McConnell was the person who should step down. "He has failed conservatives and must be replaced," Moore said. The state party and many other Alabama Republicans have not wavered in their support of Moore, who scored a decisive Republican primary victory in September over Luther Strange. Strange, who drew the support of President Donald Trump in the primary, had been appointed to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he became US attorney general earlier this year. The growing furore over Moore sets up a confrontation between establishment Republicans and Moore`s supporters in the party's populist movement led by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. A Democratic win in Alabama would be a blow to Trump`s agenda and shift the political outlook for next year`s congressional elections, giving Democrats a stronger shot at recapturing control of the Senate. It is too late to remove Moore's name from the ballot, but McConnell told reporters he was "looking at" potential write-in candidates who could mount a successful campaign. Asked if Strange might be a candidate again, he said: "We'll see." But Strange told reporters it was "highly unlikely" he would mount a write-in campaign. "Now it’s going to really be up to the people of our state to sort this out," he said. A special-election victory had been a long shot for Democrats in Alabama, which has not elected a Democratic senator in a quarter century. Jones, a former federal prosecutor, was trailing by double digits in some opinion polls. Moore, who is prone to incendiary comments on social and cultural issues, has survived controversy before. He was twice forced out of his position as chief justice, once for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse and once for defying the US Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. He threatened over the weekend to sue the Post and said the allegations were a smear campaign by his political opponents. Reuters has been unable to independently confirm any of the allegations. While making the new allegations, Nelson showed reporters Moore's signature in her high school yearbook. She said he had offered to give her a ride home one night, then pulled the car behind the restaurant and assaulted her. "I was terrified," she said. "I thought he was going to rape me." Nelson said she told her sister about the attack two years afterward, and eventually told her mother and husband. She said she backed Trump for president and was not coming forward because of politics but because she was inspired by the women who talked to the Post.

I think Moore should step aside: McConnell

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Two more women accuse US Senate candidate Moore of sexual misconduct

I think Moore should step aside: McConnell