New Georgia poll finds close race between Harris, Trump

With just 48 days left until Election Day, polling out of Georgia shows a close race between Vice President Harris and former President Trump.

The survey, released Wednesday morning by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shows Trump leading Harris in the state 47 percent to 44 percent among likely voters. About 7 percent of Peach State voters said they were undecided, while independent presidential candidate Cornel West and other third-party contenders received less than 1 percent support.

The former president has maintained a strong backing from the state’s GOP base, with more than 90 percent of Georgia Republicans — and about 65.4 percent of white voters in the state — supporting his third run for the Oval Office, the survey found.

The vice president has made progress among independents, the poll found, with 50.4 percent backing her candidacy, compared to 34.1 percent who sided with Trump.

She also received about 77 percent support from Black voters in the state — a lesser number than what the party needs in the state won by President Biden by a razor-thin margin, or fewer than 12,000 votes, in 2020. Roughly 12 percent of Black voters said they were undecided, the survey shows.

Some 48 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Democratic nominee. The same amount said they held an unfavorable view, according to the survey. On the GOP side, approximately 51 percent of the state’s voters had a negative view of Trump, somewhat higher than the 46 percent who saw him in positive light.

The biggest issue for Georgia voters was inflation and the cost of living, at 27 percent. Nearly 18 percent highlighted preserving democracy, and 15 percent said the economy was the most important ahead of November.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s aggregate polling index shows Trump leading the Peach State with 48 percent support to the Democratic nominee’s 47.7 percent. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, conducted by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs between Sept. 9-15 among 1,000 likely voters, has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.