Getty Roy Moore and Kayla Moore.
Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for Jeff Sessions’ U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, is the married father of four. He is also a grandfather. His wife, Kayla, has been outspoken on public issues.
Alabamans headed to the polls on December 12, and Moore and his wife rode to the polls on horses. You can read live election results and updates here.
Moore’s family fired back in his defense after The Washington Post report that a woman has accused Roy Moore of having sexual contact with her when she was 14 and he was a 32-year-old prosecutor. His brother, Jerry Moore, generated controversy after he compared Roy Moore to Jesus Christ, saying “the Alabama GOP Senate candidate is being persecuted like Jesus, and the women accusing him will have to answer to God for what he called false accusations,” CBS News reported. Moore’s wife, Kayla, told a conservative journalist that she and her husband intended to pursue a defamation claim against The Post. Kayla has shared posts on Facebook that are critical of her husband’s accusers.
Moore was socked with accusations from women who say that he made overtures on them – and that in two cases, they say progressed to kissing or sexual contact – when they were underage. Moore has strongly denied the accusations, attributing them to the Democrats and The Washington Post, which broke the story. Moore is still hitting the campaign trail.
Roy and and his wife, Kayla Moore.
The accusations have a lot of people wondering about Moore’s family. Moore is married to Kayla Moore, and they have a large family together.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Moore & His Wife, Kayla, a Former Beauty Queen, Attend a Local Baptist Church Together
Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, Roy Moore, arrives at a campaign rally with his wife Kayla on September 25, 2017.
The Moore family places religion at the center of its public life. Moore and his wife Kayla “are members of First Baptist Church in Gallant, Alabama,” his state bio reads. According to AL.com, “We consider ourselves Southern Baptist,” Kayla said. The newspaper said the Moores “also sometimes attend City Church in Rainbow City, where their children and grandchildren are members.”
Kayla’s Facebook page says she is also Owner/ President at KDM Marketing, studied at The University of Alabama, studied at Jacksonville State University, went to Southside High School, and lives in Gallant, Alabama. Her bio says that “in addition to her strong legal and political background, Kayla has previously been named Miss Alabama US Teen 2nd Runner up. She was also a finalist for Miss Alabama USA and Miss Alabama World.”
The former Kayla Kisor has been married to Roy Moore since 1985. According to WFSA, Kayla Moore once filed an auto accident suit. She “was awarded more than $270,000 in damages following a jury trial in September. She was injured when she was hit by a car in 1999 while walking to her car in the Colonial Mall-Gadsden parking lot.”
The religious focus in the Moore family life stands in stark contrast to the Post accusations. The Washington Post exclusive provided quotes from four named women, three of whom say they were 17 or under when Moore approached them; two of those women say that romantic contact resulted when they were 14 and 16, respectively. The third says she turned down the alleged request for a date, and the fourth says she was 18 when an encounter occurred. Moore was a 32-year-old single assistant district attorney at the time. The age of consent is 16 in Alabama and has been since 1920.
On her Facebook page, Kayla Moore has shared repeated stories in her husband’s defense since the Post story broke. For example, she shared a local column headlined, “I Believe Judge Roy Moore,” and a Breitbart article that accuses one of the women’s mothers of contradicting her statement to the Post that she had a bedroom phone in 1979. Kayla Moore also shared a pro Roy Moore post by a woman who wrote, “State Rep. Ed Henry said he believes legal action should be considered against Moore’s accusers, finding their story unbelievable.”
2. Roy Moore Has Five Grandchildren & Four Children
Roy and Kayla Moore with their grandchildren.
Moore and his wife have four children and five grandchildren. The Moore children are named Micah Moore, Caleb Moore, Ory Moore, and Heather Moore. Ory has served in the Army, according to his mother’s Facebook page. Ory says on Facebook that he studied Electrical engineering at Gadsden State College, went to Coosa Christian High School, went to Edgewood High School, is married, and lives in Gadsen, Alabama.
Micah Moore played football for Troy University. The bio reads, “Earned all-county honors his junior and senior seasons at West End High School … Earned three player of the week awards over his final two seasons … Recorded 16 sacks as a junior and 18 as a senior … Against Faulkville his senior year, tallied six sacks, a safety, a rushing touchdown and returned an interception for a touchdown … Helped lead the Patriots to a pair of playoff appearances.”
According to AL.com, Heather Moore Mayo “is the head of Cornerstone Speakers Agency, LLC – an Oneonta-based company that schedules bookings for speakers and musicians, makes travel and hotel arrangements for its clients and handles their publicity.”
In the primary, Roy Moore defeated Luther Strange, the incumbent via gubernatorial appointment, who was heartily endorsed by both Donald Trump and Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He is now the Republican nominee and is facing Democrat Doug Jones in the closely watched Senate election. Bombastic and defiant, underfunded, prone to controversial statements (including about Vladimir Putin), and railing against Washington elites, Moore was controversial even before the recent accusations. He’s also a Vietnam veteran. Moore, a Republican, received national attention for his defiance over the Ten Commandments and same-sex marriage. He has been harshly critical of transgender people serving in the U.S. military.
Moore has denied the accusations made against him. “These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign,” Moore said to the Washington Post through a statement. However, some Republicans are already calling for Moore to drop out if the accusations are true. There’s been talk of Luther Strange running as a write-in candidate.
3. Moore’s Wife Helped Run a Foundation of Moral Law & One of the Couple’s Children Was Arrested Multiple Times
Alabama Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore on Sassy and wife Kayla on Sundance ride their horses to the Gallant Fire Hall to vote.
One of the children of Roy and Kayla Moore, Caleb Moore, has been arrested multiple times. In October 2017, The New York Daily News reported that Caleb Moore “has been arrested in Alabama on a misdemeanor charge linked to allegations of illegal hunting.” Daily News added, “Caleb Moore was arrested on drug charges in 2015, but those were dropped after he entered a pre-trial diversion program.”
According to AL.com, “This is the ninth time Moore has been placed in jail. He was arrested for drug possession in Troy in 2015. Those charges were dropped last year after he agreed to enter a pre-trial diversion program with the Pike County District Attorney’s Office, court records show. He has also faced charges of driving under the influence in both Alabama and Florida, and three drug-related arrests in Baldwin, Pike and St. Clair counties in Alabama.”
Caleb Moore.
The family’s involvement in a foundation has been lucrative over the years.
According to Politifact, “From 2005 through 2013, the Moore family drew $1,030,875 from The Foundation for Moral Law.” The site noted, “Moore served as either chairman or president from 2005 through 2012, and his wife Kayla Moore took over as president in 2013.” A Senate Leadership Fund attack ad said, “Roy Moore and his wife (paid themselves) over $1 million from a charity they ran.”
The Foundation of Moral Law’s mission statement says it “exists to restore the knowledge of God in law and government and to acknowledge and defend the truth that man is endowed with rights, not by our fellow man, but by God! Please partner with us to achieve this important mission.” Its website also noted, “In January 2013, due to Judge Moore taking office as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, it was announced that his wife, Kayla Moore, was named President of the Foundation . It was announced that Judge Moore would take the title of President Emeritus of the Foundation for Moral Law.”
CNN reported that the group and Kayla both shared a video called “OBAMA THE MUSLIM, HIS OWN WORDS” on November 18, 2015. It was posted on the foundation’s Facebook page, as well as Kayla’s own page. According to AL.com, “In 2015, a Montgomery-based foundation started by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore made Moore’s daughter a member of the nonprofit’s board” and “Roy Moore’s son, Caleb Moore, worked for the foundation as late as 2012.”
4. Kayla Moore Endorsed Ted Cruz For President
Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, Roy Moore and his wife Kayla greet supporters at an election-night rally on September 26, 2017 in Montgomery, Alabama.
Roy Moore’s wife, Kayla, once wrote an op-ed for a local newspaper in which she said she was a supporter of Ted Cruz for president. She wrote, “Very rarely do I get involved in other political races, but right now our nation is at a crossroads. If we do not choose wisely, we may forever lose our country. Many will say anything to get elected, but we must look at what the candidates have done. In studying and watching those running in this race – one stands for the same values I believe in. One is a true defender of the Constitution. The next president will make many critical appointments and tough decisions with regard to the rule of law, the Supreme Court, and national security. Ted has been a consistent Constitutionalist and a faithful defender of life, marriage, and small government.”
Kayla Moore called Cruz a “man of character,” noting, “I trust Ted Cruz – a man of character and a proven leader – to not only fight for our values in Washington but, to appoint Supreme Court nominees who will stand by our principles and be faithful to the Constitution – the ‘supreme law of the land.’ Join me in voting for Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
5. Moore Is a Vietnam Veteran Whose Family Were Farmers Who Had no Indoor Plumbing
GettySuspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore speaks to parishoners at The Church of the Apostles September 7, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia. Moore’s Ten Commandments monument was recently removed from the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery, Alabama.
Moore was born February 11, 1947, “the eldest of five children. He was named after his father, Roy Baxter Moore, a farmer who also did construction work; his middle name, Stewart, comes from his mother, Evelyn. Moore recalls his father fondly…who he said wasn’t afraid to administer discipline but ‘made us wish for the ‘hickory switch’ rather than his hour-long lectures,’” according to The Montgomery Advertiser.
According to the newspaper, “The family did not have a comfortable life. Much of the family’s clothing…came from donations from others, and …the family did not have indoor plumbing until his senior year in high school. The Moores moved several times in their eldest son’s childhood; in one year…he attended three different schools.”
As for Moore’s brother, Jerry, he spoke with CNN correspondent Martin Savidge, who told the network: “When I asked what does he believe the motivation is with these women coming forward making the accusations they have, again, Jerry Moore says it’s money and the Democratic Party, implying that they are doing this because they’re being paid in some way, and it is for the purpose of derailing or interrupting this campaign.”
Moore “became the first full-time Deputy District Attorney in Etowah County, Alabama, and served in this position from 1977 until 1982. In 1984, Chief Justice Moore undertook private practice of law in Gadsden, Alabama,” according to his state bio. In 1992, Moore became a judge in Alabama, serving “until his election as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2000.” His campaign published this video biography:
“From 2003 until 2012, Chief Justice Moore served as President of the Foundation for Moral Law in Montgomery, speaking throughout the Country and filing amicus curiae briefs regarding the United States Constitution in Federal District Courts, State Supreme Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeal and the United States Supreme Court,” the bio notes.
You can read more about Roy Moore here:
