Poll: Republican Kemp leads Dem Abrams by 2 points in Georgia governor race

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) holds a narrow 2-point lead against former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives Stacey Abrams (D) in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to a poll released Tuesday.

{mosads}The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for WXIA-TV, shows Kemp with a lead of 2 points — 47 percent to 45 percent — among likely voters in the race to replace retiring Gov. Nathan Deal (R). Six percent of those surveyed say they are still undecided.

The margin of error for the sample is 4.9 points, meaning Kemp’s advantage is statistically insignificant.

Both candidates have strong control of their party bases — 94 percent of Republicans prefer Kemp and 97 percent of Democrats prefer Abrams — but independent voters favor Kemp 46 percent to 29 percent. However, respondents who identify as moderates prefer Abrams by a 5-to-3 ratio.

Kemp has closely linked himself to President Trump, and received his endorsement during the primaries. SurveyUSA’s poll finds Trump’s favorability rating in Georgia underwater, with 36 percent of registered voters having a favorable opinion of him and 45 percent having an unfavorable one.

Brian Kemp is running for Governor of the great state of Georgia. The Primary is on Tuesday. Brian is tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration. He loves our Military and our Vets and protects our Second Amendment. I give him my full and total endorsement.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018

The Cook Political Report rates the gubernatorial race as a “toss-up.”

This polling is consistent with previous ones in this cycle, including an October poll which showed a similar 2-point advantage for Kemp.

The SurveyUSA poll interviewed 655 likely voters online between Oct. 3-8.