US-SEN: Will Roy Moore winning hurt the GOP in 2018?

[ShamDam]

Depends on what you mean. Are we talking about all election races, or just control of the Senate? Obviously having Roy Moore to contend with for the next two years can't be helpful in House or Governor's races, so in that sense it would hurt.

But in the Senate, no matter how bad the GOP's brand gets because of its association with Roy Moore, the simple fact is that Democrats will need to win Texas next year if Doug Jones doesn't win this race. If Roy Moore wins, even if it does somehow boost Beto O'Rourke's chances of beating Ted Cruz, it won't be by enough to make a bigger difference than Doug Jones winning.

If Roy Moore loses, there's a 100% chance that the Democrats will have picked up 1 of the 3 seats they need to take control of the Senate. If he wins, then their chances of winning Texas increase by, what, at most, 10 percent?

It's still in Senate Republicans' best interest for Roy Moore to win in terms of getting their legislation passed. That is one of the reasons you haven't seen unequivocal condemnation from the whole chamber. Other than general inhumanity.