A new poll out Wednesday from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a virtual tie in Georgia with fewer than 50 days before the election.
The poll shows Trump with 47% of support and Harris with 44%, which is within the poll’s 3.1% margin of error.
“Georgia’s moved to a statistical tie again,” said University of Georgia political science professor Trey Hood. “It was probably a lean-Republican state when Biden was running to now back to a tossup.”
Among Georgia Republicans, more than 90% say they support Trump. Harris has the support of 86% of Democrats.
Amy Steigerwalt, the department chair of political science at Georgia State, said it’s still important to see what swing voters do during this election.
“In many ways, the question is not the base. The question is the moderates, the swing voters, especially in Georgia. The suburban Republican women, who we know were not comfortable with Trump,” Steigerwalt said.
State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, said that the race is going to come down to turnout. There are already over 8.1 million registered voters in Georgia today, about 500,000 more than were registered for the last presidential election in 2020.
“I think that the unknowability of this election really depends on those new voters,” Oliver said. “I think we’re in a nail-biting time.”
Black voters make up a crucial part of Georgia’s electorate. “That is a huge question for Georgia in terms of election outcomes,” Hood said.
AJC polling shows 77% of Black voters back Harris, while 12% of Black voters in Georgia are undecided.
Both campaigns are looking to make inroads with those numbers by November. Harris sat down with the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday.
The Grio’s White House Correspondent Gerren Keith Gaynor moderated that panel and spoke about Harris on Wednesday’s “Politically Georgia.”
“When you see that polling, it makes you wonder what is the pause for some of those undecided Black voters, particularly Black male voters and younger Black male voters,” Gaynor said. “There’s something about Donald Trump that is alluring to some Black male voters. And the more the Harris-Walz campaign takes a look at that, honestly, I think the more ground they can cover.”
Thursday on “Politically Georgia”: AJC Macon bureau chief Joe Kovac talks to us about what voters are saying in Middle Georgia.
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