Poll: Dem leads Georgia Senate race

Former charity executive Michelle Nunn (D) has a narrow lead over businessman David Perdue (R), according to a new automated poll, one of few recent surveys that’s found her in the lead.

{mosads}Nunn leads Perdue 48 percent to 45 percent with Libertarian Amanda Swafford at 3 percent in the Survey USA poll, conducted for WXIA.

The poll follows a rough few weeks for Perdue, after his recently exposed comment that he’d spent “most of my career” focused on outsourcing.

Most other recent polling has found a coin-flip race or Perdue slightly ahead in the state, though some of those polls were conducted before Perdue’s outsourcing comment had been amplified by television advertising. 

Automated polls vary in accuracy, and many pollsters predicted Perdue losing his primary shortly before he defeated Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) last summer.

But spending by outside groups indicates both sides see this race as increasingly competitive. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure arm is going on the air for the first time in the race with a buy of almost $1 million, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee added almost $1.5 million to its ad spending in the state on Friday.

Democrats are feeling increasingly bullish about Georgia, one of the few bright spots on a tough map for the party. If neither candidate wins 50 percent on Election Day, the race will continue to a January runoff.