Kemp up by 7 points in Ga. governor race against Abrams: survey

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) holds a 7-point lead in his reelection bid over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams in the latest Fox News poll.

Fifty percent of Georgia voters back Kemp compared to 43 percent for Abrams, the survey shows. That’s a significant gain from a July Fox News poll, when Kemp was only up 47 percent to 44 percent.

Among those who are certain they will vote, Kemp leads Abrams 51 percent to 44 percent, according to the new poll.

Kemp is also enjoying a majority support for his governorship, with 57 percent of Georgia voters approving of how he’s handling his job.

Abrams is seeking to unseat Kemp in a closely watched rematch. In 2018, Kemp defeated the Democratic candidate in a close race.

But Abrams, who is vying to become the state’s first Black governor, has been trailing her opponent in poll after poll. Last week, she was down 8 points in a survey from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A quarter of Georgians cite inflation as a major concern ahead of the midterm elections, while 18 percent cite preserving democracy and 13 percent cite abortion as a top issue, the Fox News poll shows.

In 2019, Kemp signed into law a bill banning abortions after six weeks, which took effect after the Supreme Court in June overturned the constitutional right to abortion.

Abrams has been campaigning on abortion rights and gun control, while Kemp is focusing on tackling inflation.

Kemp enjoys a slightly larger percentage of party loyalty in Georgia, with 94 percent of Republicans backing him compared to 91 percent of Democrats for Abrams, according to the Fox poll.

The survey was conducted from Sept. 22 to Sept. 26 among 1,011 Georgia voters by groups Beacon Research and Shaw & Company. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.