Kemp, Walker leading in new poll
Gov. Brian Kemp continues to hold a sizable lead over former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in the Republican gubernatorial primary race, according to a new poll. The survey of 509 likely GOP voters conducted April 1-3 by Emerson College Polling and The Hill, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill, showed Kemp with 43% of the vote to 32% for Perdue, with 17% undecided. A plurality of Republican primary voters — 38% — said former President Donald Trump's endorsement of Perdue makes them more likely to support Perdue, while 30% said it makes them less likely to vote for the ex-senator. Nearly a third — 32% of GOP primary voters — said Trump's endorsement makes no difference.
In a sample of 1,013 likely voters in the general election in November, Kemp led unopposed Democrat Stacey Abrams in a potential matchup 51% to 44%. Abrams also trailed Perdue by a slightly smaller margin, 49% to 44%.
'Abrams holds the majority support in the general election among voters under 50, while Kemp and Perdue have a strong majority of voters over 50,' said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. 'Abrams' chances in November depend in large part on whether or not these younger voters turn out.'
In other encouraging news for Republicans, likely GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker led incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., in the Emerson poll, 49% to 45%, with 6% undecided.
The poll of Republican primary voters has Walker enjoying a huge lead, 57% to 13%, over Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, with 16% undecided. Warnock rolled up 85% of the support in a poll of 453 likely Democratic primary voters.
The primaries will take place on May 24.
The margin of error for the general election poll was plus-or-minus 3%. With fewer voters surveyed in the primary polls, the error margins for the Republican and Democratic polls were higher at 4.3% and 4.6%, respectively.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
