ATLANTA, Ga. (WJBF) — A new poll shows that the Senate runoff race between incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock and his GOP challenger Herschel Walker is evenly split.
The poll put together by FrederickPolls, COMPETE Digital, and AMM Political, shows that both Warnock and Walker are tied at 50 percent of the vote.
If either camp is looking to persuade voters to come to their side at the polls, they should think again. The poll shows that a solid 97 percent of voters have made up their minds and are locked in on the candidate they are planning to vote for.
Despite being virtually deadlocked, the poll finds among those surveyed that Walker might have an advantage over Warnock, but only a slight one.
“A small, but potentially meaningful 11% of the Kemp-Warnock voters say they will switch and vote Walker in the runoff,” the poll found. “Over 80% of those who either like both candidates or dislike both (12% of all voters) are voting Walker in the runoff.”
However, the poll shows Warnock has the lead with independent voters, being favored 52 percent to Walker’s 48 percent.
“Walker’s advantage with voters who like/dislike both candidates is offset by Warnock’s 8-point advantage (48% to 40%) in voters who ‘like Warnock better’ and vote 99% Warnock,” the poll found.
The poll says that an increase in the number of Black voters for Warnock or an increase in the non-Metro Atlanta white voters could swing the race one way or the other.
The poll also found that Warnock benefits from women under 55 who give him 64 percent of the vote, while Walker benefits from a higher percentage of white people over the age of 65 who give him 69 percent of the vote. Walker holds onto 94 percent of the voters who voted for Governor Brian Kemp in November.
It should be noted in the methodology for this particular poll that of the nearly 940 Georgians surveyed, the majority were classified as Republicans who voted for Governor Brian Kemp, narrowly edged out Walker by voting for Warnock, were women and predominantly white. The margin of error is listed at 3.1 percent.
Warnock led Walker by approximately 37,000 votes in the November election but did not get 50 percent of the vote as required by Georgia law which launched the runoff race.
Advance voting continues through Friday, Dec. 2, and the runoff election day is Tuesday, Dec. 6.