Republicans hold slight edge in Georgia Senate runoffs: poll

Georgia Republican incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler currently have a slight lead over their Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, in the state’s critical Senate runoff races, according to a new Emerson College poll.

In both highly contentious races, the Republican senators are leading with 51 percent of the vote. Warnock and Ossoff are holding at 48 percent, and 1 percent is undecided.

According to poll results, Ossoff and Warnock are favored by the younger demographic, especially with voters under the age of 30, while Loeffler and Perdue are more popular with older voters, those 65 and older.

Voters in rural areas are also polling toward the Republican tickets, with Loeffler and Perdue leading with 68 percent and 67 percent of the vote, respectively. In urban/suburban regions, the Democrats are ahead, with Warnock at 75 percent of the vote and Ossoff with 73 percent.

Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson College Polling, noted that the data revealed “there is little crossover support, which suggests one party should win both seats.”

Among the issues Georgian voters said were most important to them were the economy (31 percent), COVID-19 response (24 percent), health care (15 percent) and social justice (12 percent).

Those prioritizing the economy are breaking for the Republican incumbents, while the Democratic challengers are leading with voters who see the coronavirus, health care and social justice as more important. 

The Emerson College survey polled 605 people Dec. 14-16. It has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.