New Poll Shows Likely Runoff In Georgia Senate Race, Kemp Leading Gubernatorial Race

By Steve Wilson | The Center Square, The Center Square Georgia

November 3, 2022

(The Center Square) — A new Emerson College poll released Thursday shows a statistical tie in the Georgia U.S. Senate contest and Gov. Brian Kemp with a comfortable lead in the gubernatorial race.

According to the poll, "U.S. Sen. Rafael Warnock leads Republican challenger Herschel Walker by a 49% to 47% margin with Election Day less than a week away." Warnock's lead is within the 3% margin of error poll of 1,000 likely Georgia voters conducted on Oct. 28-31.

The poll also showed the Senate race debates hurt Walker more than Warnock. Of the respondents, 42% said the opinion of Walker was worse, 35% said it was worse for Warnock.

The same poll also showed a comfortable 52% to 46% lead for Kemp over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams.

"Gender is a key factor in the Georgia races for governor and Senate," said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. "In the Senate race, Warnock’s 15-point lead with women is directly challenged by Walker’s 14-point lead in men.

In a release, the Emerson poll said, "However, in the governor’s race, Stacey Abrams’ 7-point advantage with women is overshadowed by Brian Kemp’s 23-point lead with men – more than a three-to-one advantage."

As for issues, the poll found the economy was most important for 46% of those surveyed. Of those who said that the economy was their most important issue, 75% plan to vote for Walker.

According to the poll, "disapproval of President Joe Biden was 52% among the 1,000 Georgia likely voters surveyed."

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