Kemp leading Abrams by 7 points in Georgia governor race: survey 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is leading Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams by 7 points in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and UGA.

The poll, published on Monday, found Kemp ahead with 51 percent of likely Georgia voters saying they’d vote for the Republican if the race were held today — while 44 percent said they’d cast their ballot for Abrams.  

The Journal-Constitution report notes that Kemp’s 7-point lead is narrower than the 10-point lead he enjoyed in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia News Collaborative poll released earlier this month. 

Another 2 percent said they’d vote for Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel, and 2.5 percent said they were still undecided.  

Abrams appears to have gained among Black voters as the midterm elections draw nearer, with her support among that demographic reaching 87 percent.  

Kemp leads among male voters and among white voters, while Abrams leads among women and among Black voters. Abrams is up among Georgians with at least some college education, while Kemp leads among those with a high school degree or less.

Over half of independent voters, or 53 percent, back Abrams, compared to just 31 percent of independents who back Kemp.

The Georgia race between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Republican challenger Herschel Walker is much tighter, with the latest Journal-Constitution poll putting the two candidates just a fraction of a percentage point apart, a statistical dead heat that could mean an eventual runoff.  

Conducted Oct. 16-27 by the School of Public and International Affairs Survey Research Center at the University of Georgia, the new poll surveyed 1,022 Georgians and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.