U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock holds a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Herschel Walker, according to one new poll.
A Quinnipiac University poll is showing that 54% of respondents plan to vote for Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, while 44% will back Walker. That suggests that a vast majority of voters have already made up their minds.
The same poll found the Governor’s race between Republican incumbent Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams to be a dead heat.
The most important finding of the Senate poll shows that a majority support the incumbent Senator. That leaves Walker no path to victory besides peeling off a significant slice of Warnock’s supporters.
Pollsters gathered responses between June 23 and 27 from 1,497 registered Georgia voters. Warnock’s lead falls outside the poll’s 2.5% margin of error.
They found predictable partisan polarization among voters. About 97% of Democrats break for Warnock and 93% of Republicans support Walker.
But Warnock’s 10-point lead comes as a result of independents breaking his way. Some 62% of those voters not identifying with either party plan to support the Democrat in November.
Warnock won his seat in a 2020 special election, defeating appointed GOP incumbent Kelly Loeffler in a Jan. 5 runoff. With voters weighing in a day before the scheduled certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Walker, meanwhile, won a Republican primary in May over five other Republicans. He enjoyed the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Warnock boasts strong support from female and Black voters, Quinnipiac pollsters found. Women break Democratic by 61% to 37%. Meanwhile, 88% of Black voters support him and just 10% want Walker to win; both Walker and Warnock are Black men.
White men want Walker to win, though. About 62% of all White voters favor the Republican compared to 35% who would vote for Warnock. Male voters got for Walker by a 52% to 45% margin.
A glance at favorability ratings in the polls is showing the incumbent to be well-liked in general. About 52% consider Warnock honest compared to 33% who think otherwise, and 56% say he has strong leadership skills. Meanwhile, 49% of voters view Walker as not honest, compared to 39% who do consider him as honest. About 43% say the Republican does not have leadership skills, while just 37% believe he does.
