A look at Kemp's internal poll in Georgia governor race
Secretary of State Brian Kemp has Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle exactly where he wants him in next year's GOP gubernatorial primary – at least according to an internal poll his campaign recently conducted.
The poll of 400 likely GOP voters by The Wickers Group had Cagle at about one-third of the vote followed by Kemp at 13 percent. The other contenders had negligible support. And about one-third of the voters said they’d put Kemp as a second choice.
Before we go any further, here’s the same caveat we note whenever we run an internal poll: They are meant to be taken with a grain of salt, and this one is no different.
They are leaked to the media to show their candidates in a favorable light, unnerve rivals and send a message to supporters, campaign contributors and the undecided.
With that in mind, here’s what Kemp would have you believe about Cagle: The lieutenant governor’s GOP primary support is “soft and fluid,” with only 15 percent saying they were a hard Cagle vote. On the other hand, only 7 percent of those polled defined themselves as a “definite” Kemp voter.
You can review the poll here and check out the summary here.
About the Author
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
