With less than 7 weeks until the primary election, a new poll finds Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the driver’s seat as he stares down a clash with former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who is boasting an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Looking ahead to the general election, the survey finds Republicans leading Democrats in Georgia’s marquee races as President Joe Biden’s approval rating remains underwater.
The poll, conducted by Emerson College and The Hill, found Gov. Kemp with 43% support from Republican primary voters, compared to Perdue’s 32%. 17% of Republicans remain undecided. If neither earns more than 50% of the vote, the race will advance to a runoff in June.
In a worrying sign for Perdue, the poll found that Trump’s endorsement might not carry as much weight as it used to.
A plurality (38%) of Republican primary voters say Trump’s endorsement of Perdue makes them more likely to support Perdue, 30% said it made them less likely and 32% said it made no difference. However, “a majority (58%) of undecided Republican gubernatorial primary voters say Trump’s endorsement of Perdue has no impact on their vote,” noted Spencer Kimball, Executive Director of Emerson College Polling.
Kemp spokesman Cody Hall took a victory lap on Twitter after the poll was released. “Every public poll shows [Kemp] is the only Republican who will beat Stacey Abrams this November,” he tweeted. “It is past time for David Perdue to realize he is the only thing standing in the way of Georgia Republicans achieving that goal.”
Perdue’s campaign, however, argues that the former Senator still has room to grow because Kemp is still polling in the low 40s.
Both Republicans are in the lead in a hypothetical general election matchup with presumptive Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams. Against Kemp, Abrams earns 44% to Kemp’s 51%. Perdue leads the Democrat 49% to 44%.
Despite the encouraging poll numbers for the Kemp campaign, Georgia voters are split on their opinion of the Governor. 42% approve of the Republican’s job performance, while 42% disapprove.
Meanwhile, in the race for U.S. Senate, GOP frontrunner Herschel Walker currently leads Democratic Sen. Raphael Walker in a general election contest. Walker, a former football running back, earns 49% to Warnock’s 45% in a contest that will likely determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
Walker’s Republican rivals are running out of time to erase his frontrunner status. He currently leads in the Republican primary with an overwhelming 57%. His closest competitor is state agriculture commissioner Gary Black, who sits at a distant 13%.
Another primary to watch is the Republican race for Secretary of State, where where a large number of GOP voters remain undecided. Incumbent Brad Raffensperger, who has emerged as a frequent Trump punching bag, is battling it out with far-right Congressman Jody Hice, the former President’s hand-picked candidate. Raffensperger currently enjoys 29% support to Hice’s 26%, with 37% of Republicans up grabs.
Georgia Democrats, seeking to prove that their stunning 2020 victories were no fluke, must grapple with President Joe Biden’s sagging approval rating. The survey found that 42% of Georgians approve of the President’s job performance, while 49% disapprove.
The poll, which was conducted between April 1 and April 3, surveyed 1,013 registered voters and 509 likely Republican primary voters. The margin of error was +/- 4.6%. You can read more about the poll here.