ATLANTA – Despite being from different political parties, the two incumbents atop the Georgia ballot this year are leading their respective races, according to a new poll.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is ahead of Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams 52 percent to 4, according to a survey commissioned by AARP Georgia.
The poll found Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock holding a narrower lead over Republican challenger Herschel Walker, 50 percent to 47.
In both races, the Republicans lead among older voters, while the Democrats hold the advantage among women.
Kemp is 15 points ahead of Abrams among voters at least 50 years old 56 percent to 41, while Walker leads Warnock among older voters 52 percent to 46, according to the survey, conducted by the bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward & impact Research.
Kemp also enjoys a 27-point lead among men who took part in the polls, while Abrams is up 11% among women.
Warnock has a much larger lead among women, with 58 percent of the female vote to 39 for Walker, the main driver in Warnock’s overall lead, according to a news release distributed with the poll results.
The polling firm credited Kemp’s overall lead to his 14-point edge over Abrams among independent voters. Warnock leads Walker by 3 percent among independents.
The poll found Kemp with a favorable image among 50 percent of the survey participants, while 46 percent found Abrams favorable.
Warnock’s image was evenly divided at 47 percent favorable and 47 unfavorable. Walker was judged favorable by 41 percent, with 49 viewing him as unfavorable.
The polling firm interviewed 1,197 likely Georgia voters between July 5 and July 11, including a statewide representative sample of 500 likely voters. Interviews were conducted via landline telephone, cellphone and online.
Depending on the category of voters interviewed, the poll’s margins of error varied from plus-or-minus 3.4% to plus-or-minus 4.9%.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
