Georgians have more confidence in Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on immigration, according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, striking news on Donald Trump's signature issue given the state's typically red credentials.
The poll gives Clinton a 9-point advantage over the Republican nominee, 51 percent to 42 percent, well above the roughly 4.3 percent margin-of-error. Five percent of the 767 respondents selected neither candidate when asked who they had more confidence in on immigration.
Immigration, of course, was one of the policy areas that initially drew Trump many new followers –and headlines – during the primaries when he proposed building a wall along the Mexican border and making our neighbors to the south pay for it. He also called for the U.S. to pause its admittance of refugees from war-torn parts of the Middle East in order to protect against terrorist attacks.
Clinton has staked out virtually the opposite view in every way on immigration. She’s backed comprehensive immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship.
Georgia voters surveyed in the AJC poll largely broke along party lines, although 11 percent of Republican respondents said they had more confidence in Clinton. Independents, a critical demographic in Georgia that tends to swing more conservative, split almost evenly between the two major party candidates, 49 percent for Clinton and 47 percent for Trump.
Evangelicals overwhelmingly selected Trump on immigration. The Republican nominee won nearly three-quarters of voters polled from that group. He also polled strongly among voters over 65 and people from northern Georgia.
Clinton, meanwhile, polled 18-points higher than Trump among women. She carried metro Atlanta, as well as the heavily agricultural southwest portion of the state.
More: Read all about the AJC poll’s wide-ranging findings here.
More: Why Donald Trump could influence Georgia’s Senate race.
More: How Libertarians can shake up the vote.
More: Behind Barack Obama's surprising approval rating in Georgia
More: How the poll was conducted.
More: An interactive look at all the results and crosstabs here.
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