New Poll Shows a Statistical Tie in Georgia Governor’s Race

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The Georgia governor’s race is getting tighter, as Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams are statistically tied according to a new poll.

In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News poll released last night, Kemp holds 1.4 percentage point lead over Abrams — 47.7 percent to 46.3 percent. The differential is within the poll’s 2.8 percent margin of error, meaning the candidates may be considered to be statistically tied in their historic race.

Libertarian candidate Ted Metz also earned 2.3 percent of support in the poll and 4 percent of voters said that are undecided. The number of undecided voters has decreased significantly in recent weeks.

If no candidate gets a majority vote, there would be a runoff in December. This could be caused by the presence of the third party candidate.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls for the Georgia governor’s race shows Kemp with a narrow 2-point lead, meaning the latest poll confirms the tightness of this race. If Abrams wins she would become the first African-American woman governor of any state in American history.

Kemp, the Georgia Secretary of State, is responsible for administering elections in the state, and he is now facing a potential lawsuit from the Georgia NAACP over some of his actions which they believe have discriminated against black voters.

The NAACP announced Thursday that it is preparing to sue Kemp over thousands of voter registration forms that are still on hold just weeks away from the general election.

Reports surfaced this week claiming that more than 53,000 applications from a majority of black voters have not been processed.

Abrams and Democrats accused Kemp of trying to suppress minority votes and called on her opponent to resign.

If Abrams were to win, she would become the first black woman to serve as a U.S. governor in U.S. history. The analysis of poll results has pleased Democrats. They are happy about Abrams’ strength among both independents who are turned off with Republican policies and her party’s core supporters. To win in a deep South state like Georgia she will need strong turnout and support from both of these groups of voters. Her strategy has been relying on expanding the state’s electorate and to turn out left-leaning voters who often skip midterm elections.

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Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.