Republican Herschel Walker holds a slim lead over Democrat Raphael Warnock in the still too-close-to-call race for Senate in Georgia, according to a number of surveys.
As the polls open in the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 8, the Donald Trump-endorsed Walker is ahead of Warnock in several final polls, albeit none of which show him passing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a December run-off election.
According to the final Landmark Communications poll, Walker leads Senator Warnock by 47 percent to 46.
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The survey, seen as one of the most accurate polling groups by poll trackers FiveThirtyEight and Real Clear Politics, was conducted with 1,214 likely voters, with a margin of error of 2.8 percent, meaning the race could still go either way.
In an InsiderAdvantage poll, conducted for Atlanta news station Fox 5, Walker is ahead with 49 percent, with Warnock polling at 47 percent. One percent of respondents backed Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver with four percent choosing "other" or undecided.
According to Georgia law, if neither candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the race will be decided in a runoff election in December between the top two vote-getters.
Discussing the results, InsiderAdvantage Chairman Matt Towery said that as the Georgia races for governor and lieutenant governor appear to be going to Republican candidates outright (Governor Brian Kemp and Burt Jones respectively), signs look good that Walker could also avoid a run-off.
"With the rest of the GOP ticket above 50 percent, there is an increasing likelihood of a straight-up Walker win. Warnock's best hope is to hold Herschel Walker just under 50 percent and live to fight on in a now shortened Georgia runoff which would favor Walker," Towery said.
Elsewhere, a Data for Progress survey of 1,474 likely voters in Georgia also gave Walker a marginal 1-point lead (49-48), with the margin of error being 3 percent.
In other final polls, Walker has more of a lead but still does not pass the 50 percent mark.
The final Atlas Poll survey shows the Republican more than 3 points ahead of the incumbent Senator (49.0 to 45.8 percent), with more than 5 percent of likely voters saying they have still not made up their minds as to how they will vote.
A Targoz Market Research survey also finds that Walker is 2 points ahead of Warnock (49 to 47 percent) in what the pollsters describe as a "very close" race.
A poll from Trafalgar Group also shows Walker with more than a 3-point lead but falling just short of the 50 percent threshold (49.7 percent to 46.5).
According to FiveThirtyEight, Walker is now "slightly favored" to win the Georgia Senate race, with the polling website giving the Republican a 63 percent chance of victory, and Warnock a 37 percent chance.
A separate collection of national poll averages from Real Clear Politics also shows Walker leading Warnock by 48.8 to 47.4 percent in the race which is still listed as a "toss-up" between the pair.
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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