Georgia voters view Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) more favorably than his GOP challenger in the state’s Senate race and more say they are likely to vote for him, according to the latest Monmouth University poll.
About 48 percent of respondents say they view Warnock favorably and 44 percent say they view him unfavorably, according to the poll released on Wednesday. At the same time, 42 percent say they view Republican candidate Herschel Walker favorably compared to 48 percent who view him unfavorably.
About 45 percent of Georgia voters in the poll say they would definitely or probably support Warnock, while 41 percent of voters say the same of Walker.
Comparatively, about 53 percent of voters say they would definitely or probably not support Walker, while 50 percent say the same of Warnock. The poll did not directly ask voters who they would vote for between the two men.
Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said “more voters have definitely ruled out a candidate than are certain to back either Warnock or Walker.”
“That means a sizable group of voters will end up casting ballots for someone they are not sold on, that is if they turn out to vote at all,” Murray said in a statement.
Previous polls have indicated a tight race between the Democratic incumbent and Walker, a University of Georgia football legend and former NFL player. The Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss up.”
On Wednesday, a CBS News-YouGov poll showed Warnock held a slim 2-point lead over Walker.
The Monmouth University poll was conducted from Sept. 15 to Sept. 19 among 601 registered voters. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.