A new poll shows Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp are leading in their re-election bids.
The Marist Poll shows Warnock leads Republican challenger Herschel Walker by 5 points statewide, 47%-42%, though the gap shrinks to 47%-45% among registered voters who say they definitely plan to vote.
Warnock’s lead is helped by a 9% lead among independent voters as well as the support of 52% of women. Additionally, the poll found 70% of registered voters with a candidate preference in the race strongly support their choice. The overall total includes 74% of Warnock’s supporters and 68% of Walker’s. On favorability, Warnock earned a plus-3 rating, 43%-40%, while Walker stood at minus-4, 37%-41%.
Warnock’s lead comes despite Republicans holding a 4-point edge over Democrats among registered voters statewide on the generic congressional ballot. That advantage widens for Republicans to a 7-point lead among voters who say they definitely plan to vote.
The Governor race, meanwhile, is trending toward Kemp, who leads Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams50%-44% among registered voters. Kemp’s lead grows to 53%-42% among voters who say they definitely plan to vote.
Kemp scored a plus-15 on the favorability test, 50%-35% while Abrams is underwater, 42%-46%.
The Marist Poll also asked voters what their top issues were this cycle and 40% of those polled identified inflation, though there was a large partisan gap with 55% of Republicans naming it compared to 25% of Democrats.
Additionally, about one in four Georgia voters said they were most concerned about preserving democracy — the top issue for registered Democrats — while 16% said abortion was their top issue, followed by 12% for health care and 7% for immigration.
The Marist Poll was conducted Sept. 12-15. It has a sample size of 1,322 Georgia adults. Of those, 1,202 are registered voters and 992 are registered voters who definitely plan to vote. The overall poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
