ATLANTA – A second poll of Georgia’s free-for-all U.S. Senate race shows Democrat Raphael Warnock in the lead over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville.
Warnock, pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, drew the support of 36.2% of Georgians surveyed in a poll released Friday by WSB-TV and Landmark Communications.
Loeffler, an Atlanta businesswoman appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp late last year to succeed retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson on an interim basis, is second at 25.8%, followed by Collins at 23.3%.
A poll published Sept. 29 by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute was the first to show Warnock in first place.
As a special election contest, the race between Warnock, Loeffler and Collins did not feature any primaries. Thus, it is open to Republicans, Democrats and independents, and 21 signed up to run.
With such a crowded field, no one is likely to win more than 50% of the vote on Nov. 3. if that’s the case, a runoff between the top-two finishers would be held in early January to decide who will fill the remaining two years of Isakson’s six-year term.
The Landmark poll also showed the race for Georgia’s 16 electoral votes between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden remains tight.
Republican Trump leads with 48.6% of the vote to 46.8% for Democrat Biden. That’s well within the poll’s margin of error of 4%.
Georgia’s other U.S. Senate contest also remains essentially tied due to the poll’s margin of error. Incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue leads with 47% of the vote, with Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff close behind at 45.5%.
Libertarian Shane Hazel polled just 1.5% of the vote, but he could attract enough votes on Election Day to force a runoff between the two major-party candidates.
The poll of 600 likely Georgia voters took place on Oct. 7.