Dem poll: Nunn leads most GOP challengers

Democrat Michelle Nunn leads most of her GOP Senate challengers, according to a new poll conducted for the liberal group Better Georgia.

{mosads}The race is potentially Democrats’ best pick-up opportunity in a year where they’re defending a number of seats. The poll indicates some worrisome signs for Republicans, including Rep. Paul Broun’s (R-Ga.) double-digit primary lead. Establishment Republicans believe that nominating the controversial Broun would all but guarantee a win for Nunn in the general election.

Nunn and Broun are tied at 38 percent in the automated poll, conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, and she holds small leads against three other GOP opponents. The poll was first obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Nunn leads Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) by 42 percent to 40 percent, with a 44 percent to 41 percent lead over Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and a 43 percent to 39 percent lead over former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel (R).

The primary numbers present more worries for the establishment GOP. Broun leads the field with 27 percent support, followed by Gingrey at 14 percent, Kingston at 13 percent, businessman David Perdue at 12 percent and Handel at 9 percent.

It’s unclear why PPP didn’t include results for a matchup between Perdue and Nunn.

Partisan polls should always be taken with a grain of salt, and PPP’s sample in this poll may skew slightly Democratic — Mitt Romney won Georgia by an 8-point margin in 2012 but just 49 percent of voters in the survey said they voted for Romney, with 43 percent saying they backed President Obama. But the results indicate a tight race in Georgia, a key Senate battleground. There were also just 23 percent of voters undecided in the GOP primary sample, which seems a bit low since the race is still months away.

The automated poll of 580 general election voters including 324 GOP primary voters was conducted from March 5-6.

This post was updated at 5:50 p.m.