Republicans are surging in Georgia, according to a recent poll from InsiderAdvantage and Fox 5.
The poll shows GOP challenger Herschel Walker leading U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock by 3 percentage points, at 48% to 45% as Warnock seeks to hold onto the seat he narrowly won in 2021.
Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver received 2% in the poll, adding further evidence that the battleground Senate race could be heading for a runoff as neither candidate has so far managed to breach the 50% threshold in polling.
The latest poll, taken Thursday, has, at least in part, helped push the Real Clear Politics’ national polling average in Walker’s favor. The average now puts Walker at a 1.4 percentage point advantage.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, meanwhile, shows a growing lead in his re-election battle against Democrat Stacey Abrams. Kemp’s lead grew to 52% over Abrams, who garnered just 43% support. The Libertarian candidate in the race, Shane Hazel, grabbed just 1% support with 4% of surveyed voters still undecided.
While Kemp has consistently led Abrams and is expected to pull off an Election Day victory without the need for a runoff, things have been much closer for Warnock and Walker, whose race is expected to play a large role in determining which party controls the Senate in the next Congress.
Voting is already underway in Georgia, with turnout exceeding 19% as of Oct. 28, according to the most recent L2 voter data. Of the more than 1.3 million Georgia voters who have already cast a ballot, the race still looks tight, with more than 650,000 Democrats voting early or absentee to nearly 622,000 Republicans. Another nearly 85,000 non-partisan voters have also cast a ballot.
Walker has faced a flurry of scandalous news reports in recent weeks stemming from allegations that he paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion, despite being vehemently anti-abortion. A second woman has since come forward claiming she too had a Walker-funded abortion.
Evidence has mounted in the first allegation, including copies of a check from Walker and a receipt from the abortion clinic, as well as a get well card signed by “H.”
Yet despite the controversy, Walker is experiencing a late-election surge. That’s largely pushed by Walker’s performance among White, Black and women voters, according to InsiderAdvantage Chairman Matt Towery.
Towery told Fox 5 that Walker received 59% support among White voters and nearly 20% support among Black voters in the most recent poll, with a closed gap among women and a surge of 10 points among men.
“It appears the new allegations had no impact on the race and perhaps are having a reverse effect,” Towery told the outlet.
The poll of 550 likely voters in Georgia has a margin of error of 4.2%.
