Poll: Biden takes significant lead in Georgia for first time

Warnock jumps out to big lead, Ossoff pulls ahead, too
President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during the first of three scheduled 90-minute presidential debates, in Cleveland on September 29, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Abaca Press/TNS)

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during the first of three scheduled 90-minute presidential debates, in Cleveland on September 29, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Abaca Press/TNS)

Former Vice President Joe Biden has pulled ahead of President Donald Trump in the race for president in Georgia, according to the latest poll from Quinnipiac University. With early voting already underway in the state, the poll showed Biden at 51% and Trump at 44%.

The same poll shows big jumps for the Democrats in the two races for U.S. Senate races, too, with Rev. Raphael Warnock out to a large lead in the special election against Sen. Kelly Loeffler, with Warnock pegged at 44%, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins at 22%, and Loeffler at 20%.

In the race for Sen. David Perdue’s seat, Democrat Jon Ossoff has pulled also ahead of Perdue at 51% and Perdue at about 45% in the poll. Hitting the 50% threshold would significant for any candidate, especially in Georgia, where 50%+ one vote are required to win without a runoff.

The results mark the first and only time Biden has taken more than a statistical lead in any independent poll of Georgia voters. It’s also by far the largest lead Warnock has posted over Loeffler and Collins, although two recent polls have shown the pastor pulling ahead in the race, while Loeffler and Collins appear to be splitting the lion’s share of Republican votes between them.

The poll released today comes two weeks after the most recent Quinnipiac poll, which showed Warnock ahead with about 31% of the vote, followed by Loeffler at 23% and Collins at 22%.

Along with preferences for president and Senate, voters in the poll released today were also asked about their opinion of President Trump’s performance recently. Overall, 53% disapproved of the job Trump is doing, while 45% approved.

Georgia likely voters also disapproved 54% to 44% of how he is handling the nation’s response to the Coronavirus. A majority, 55%, said that the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. is out of control, while 35% disagreed.

The poll was conducted October 8-12 and included 1,040 likely voters in Georgia, with a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points.