Poll: Democrats even with Republicans in Georgia Senate races
Democratic Senate candidates are in a dead heat with their GOP rivals in Georgia, according to a survey of the traditionally Republican-leaning state that has morphed into a new southern battleground in recent years.
A New York Times/Siena College poll published Tuesday — two weeks out from the state’s pair of Senate elections — shows that 43 percent of likely voters support incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue, and another 43 percent support Democrat Jon Ossoff.
An additional 4 percent of likely voters support Libertarian Shane Hazel, while 10 percent are voting for someone else, not voting at all or unsure who they will support.
Perdue is widely regarded as one of the more vulnerable Senate Republicans seeking reelection in November, and his race could decide whether Democrats retake control of the chamber.
The Times/Siena survey was partly conducted in the days after Perdue drew criticism Friday for mocking Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ name during a campaign rally.
The incident resulted in Ossoff reporting that his campaign had raised more than $1.8 million over the weekend from at least 42,000 donors.
In the state’s other Senate race — a special election for incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s seat — a plurality of likely voters, 32 percent, support Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Loeffler is supported by 23 percent of likely voters, while GOP challenger Doug Collins has 17 percent support.
Behind the race’s three leaders, a total of 9 percent of likely voters support Democrats Matt Lieberman and Ed Tarver. An additional 19 percent are either not voting or do not know who they will vote for.
Loeffler was appointed to her Senate seat in January by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to replace Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who retired last year. The winner of Loeffler’s race will finish out Isakson’s term.
Because it is a special election, Loeffler’s race is a “jungle” primary featuring 21 total candidates. If none win a majority of the vote on Nov. 3, the top two vote-getters will face one another in a runoff in January 2021.
The Times/Siena survey also shows that the state of the White House race in Georgia is unchanged from last month, with both Donald Trump and Joe Biden still supported by 45 percent of likely voters.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of Georgia surveys conducted from Sept. 27-Oct. 19, the Democratic nominee is 0.9 percentage points ahead of the Republican incumbent in general election polling.
Trump won Georgia’s 16 Electoral College votes by 5.7 percentage points in 2016. Republican presidential candidates have carried Georgia in every election since 1992, when Democrat Bill Clinton was victorious there.
The Times/Siena poll was conducted Oct. 13-19, surveying 759 Georgia likely voters with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
