Libertarian Ted Metz deleted a tweet Friday asking frustrated voters to “put your money where your mouth is” and donate to a GoFundMe account to pay his medical bills for cancer treatment if they want him to drop out of the race.
Metz said in an interview the tweet was a "joke" meant to draw a laugh from voters angry his presence in the race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp could trigger a runoff. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, a Dec. 4 showdown between the two top finalists is needed.
“I was screwing with someone begging me to withdraw,” said Metz, who also deleted a Facebook post about the fundraiser.
Metz has consistently polled around 2 percent in the nationally-watched race. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News poll released Thursday showed Kemp and Abrams deadlocked at 47 percent and Metz around 1.6 percent. Another 5 percent of voters were undecided.
Trey Hood, the UGA political scientist who conducted the poll, said the race could tighten as the remaining undecided voters make up their minds, potentially squeezing Metz’s margins.
“This race hasn’t opened up one way or another. But the 5 percent of undecided voters are either going to make the decision to vote — or not show up at all,” he said. “Mathematically, there could be a runoff, but it would have to be a super squeaker.”
More: AJC/CHANNEL 2 POLL: Deadlocked Abrams-Kemp race could trigger runoff
More: The shrinking odds of a runoff in Georgia's race for governor
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