Biden up by 7 points in Georgia: survey

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leads President Trump by 7 points in Georgia, according to a new poll.

The latest Quinnipiac University survey finds Biden’s support at 51 percent and Trump’s at 44 percent, with 4 percent of respondents undecided. Biden led by only 3 points in the same poll in September, before the first presidential debate and Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis.

Biden is now viewed favorably by 51 percent of Georgians, compared to 46 percent who view him negatively. Trump is underwater at 43 positive and 54 negative.

Trump will campaign in Georgia, which last went for the Democratic nominee in 1992, later this week.

“For Trump, 2016 is a distant memory,” said Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy. “Defeating Hillary Clinton by 5 points when the polls closed then, and now down 7 to Biden with three weeks to go. Warning lights are blinking red and alarms are going off in the Peach Tree state.”

Quinnipiac’s polls have regularly found Biden with bigger leads than other pollsters have found. Trump and Biden are effectively tied in the RealClearPolitics average of Georgia surveys.

Election Day in Georgia will also have major consequences for which party controls the Senate, as there are two seats up for grabs this cycle.

Democrat Jon Ossoff leads Sen. David Perdue (R), 51 to 45 percent, in the new poll, up from a 1-point advantage in the prior survey.

Ossoff has a 10-point net positive favorability rating, while Perdue is underwater by 3 points.

And Democrat Raphael Warnock leads the big field of contenders in the special election race to replace former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).

Warnock has 41 percent support, followed by Rep. Doug Collins (R) at 22 percent and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) at 20 percent. If no candidate reaches more than 50 percent on Election Day, the top two vote-getters will move on to a run-off in January.

Warnock leads Loeffler by 8 points in a potential head-to-head match-up. He leads Collins by 10 points.

“Sleepless GOP Senate watchers have Georgia on their minds,” said Malloy. “And with two Senate seats in play, Democrats are sensing that a potential seismic shift in the balance of power is possible.”

The Quinnipiac survey of 1,040 likely voters in Georgia was conducted from Oct. 8 to Oct. 12 and has a 3 percentage point margin of error.