Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is leading former Sen. David Perdue (Ga.) by 11 points in the GOP primary for the Peach State’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by Fox News, found that Kemp has 50 percent support among GOP primary voters, while Perdue trails with 39 percent. Six percent of those polled said they do not know who they support, 4 percent said they would vote for a different candidate and 1 percent said they would not vote.
When examining GOP primary voters in the state who have a strong favorable opinion of former President Trump, however, the playing field shifts. Among that subset of voters, Perdue received 52 percent support, compared to Kemp’s 39 percent.
Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they view Trump favorably, while 19 percent said they view him negatively.
Trump endorsed Perdue in December. The former president has thrown his weight in the race in an effort to unseat Kemp, who frustrated him when he declined to support Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Among GOP voters who have an unfavorable view of Trump, however, Perdue is significantly behind Kemp, 15 percent to 70 percent.
Kemp and Perdue are now entrenched in a fierce primary battle to take on former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams in the general election. She is the only Democrat running for the party’s nomination.
The campaign has intensified in recent weeks, with the candidates trading jabs through advertisements, speeches and surrogate comments. Kemp made headlines earlier this month when his campaign spent $4.2 million for a television ad buy.
The highly anticipated primary race is set for May 24.
Kemp currently has an edge against Perdue in terms of fundraising, with more than $7.4 million in the bank at the end of January. Perdue, on the other hand, had less than $1 million on hand.
The Fox News poll, conducted between March 2 and March 6, surveyed 914 Georgia Republican primary voters. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.