Former state Rep. Geoff Duncan is leading business executive Sarah Riggs Amico in the race for lieutenant governor with less than a month until the election, according an Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News poll.
The poll of likely November voters found that 45.4 percent of those who responded planned to cast their ballots for Duncan, the Republican candidate, with 39.3 percent planning to vote for Amico, a Democrat. An additional 15.3 percent of voters were undecided.
The race for secretary of state was a little closer, with Republican state Rep. Brad Raffensperger slightly ahead in the three-man race. According to the poll, 41.4 percent of likely voters said they planned to vote for Raffensperger.
Of those polled, 36.8 percent said they planned to vote for John Barrow, a Democrat who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade, and 6.3 percent said they would vote for Libertarian Smythe DuVal.
Again, about 15 percent of likely voters said they had not yet decided whom they were voting for.
The poll was conducted Sept. 30 to Oct. 9 by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs. It included 1,232 likely general election voters who said they had voted in recent contests and were definitely or probably going to vote in November. The poll has a 2.8 percent margin of error.
Many voters contacted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said they didn’t have strong feelings about either race or were undecided. Of those who knew whom they planned to vote for, most were voting along the party line.
Larry Berry, a retired forklift driver from Gainesville, said he’s voted for Republicans since he switched parties during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
“I trust Republicans,” the 69-year-old said. “I don’t trust Democrats. They don’t seem to have any morals anymore.”
Berry admitted he knew very little about Duncan and Raffensperger, other than that they would get his vote.
“I know a lot about (Lt. Gov.) Casey Cagle, but I don’t know much about this other one (Duncan) coming up,” he said. “But I figure he’ll work with (Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian) Kemp on his ideas.”
On the other side of the political spectrum, Jerome Moss, a retired U.S. Postal System manager from McDonough, said he knew little about Amico other than that she had a strong business background. Amico is a first-time candidate.
Moss, 70, had high praise for Barrow, though.
“Barrow has a good, long track record of working for human dignity and human rights,” Moss said, also praising Barrow’s father, Athens-area Superior Court Judge James Barrow, who is known for his work during the civil rights era. “And it’s not just him, but his father. They try to do the right thing rather than the popular thing.”
The strong party support mirrors the AJC/Channel 2 poll.
According to Republican voters polled, 87.4 percent said they plan to vote for Duncan for lieutenant governor and 82.5 percent lined up behind Raffensperger for secretary of state.
Of those who identified as Democrats, 84 percent said they planned to vote for Amico for lieutenant governor and 77.6 percent said they would vote for Barrow for secretary of state.
A slight majority of independent voters polled said they still had not decided whom they will support for lieutenant governor. Independent voters polled skewed toward Barrow in the race for secretary of state.
Of the 130 voters polled who said they do not identify with a political party, 30.8 percent said they would vote for Barrow, 28.5 percent said they were undecided, 23.8 percent were supporting DuVal and 16.9 percent said they will support Raffensperger.
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