ATLANTA — Several final polls for Georgia’s 2022 gubernatorial race show that incumbent Governor Brian Kemp (R) will defeat Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams handily in a rematch of the 2018 election.
Per RealClearPolitics’ polling average, Kemp has an 8.3-point lead over Abrams. The Trafalgar Group’s latest and closing poll for this race reports that the governor could defeat his opponents by a margin of nearly nine points, with 52.6% of respondents in a survey taken between November 4 – November 6 affirming they would vote for Kemp. Just 43.7% of those who responded to Trafalgar said they would vote for Abrams.
Kemp spent part of Monday in Macon, Georgia, making a final plea for re-election to voters in a county that went for Abrams 62.89% to 36.90% in 2018.
“It’s been our honor, working hard every single day for the Georgia citizens,” Kemp said during one stop in the area. “We’ve been doing good in our state, quite honestly, because we’ve been saying no to Stacey Abrams.”
In recent days, Abrams has reignited criticism of Kemp for reopening Georgia’s economy and schools in the early days of the pandemic.
Stacey Abrams says she wanted small businesses locked down and schools closed for longer: “He prematurely opened the state” pic.twitter.com/AwV3D1JORg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 5, 2022
For his part, the governor has defended his actions while blasting Abrams for her pro-lockdown positions.
“We said ‘no’ when she criticized me for reopening small parts of our economy back during the pandemic,” he added Monday, saying he was “simply giving Georgians the opportunity to decide for themselves and give them the opportunity to live to fight another day and go back to work.”
Kemp also pointed to the Peach State’s economic success as evidence that he made the right judgment call in 2020.
“We’ve had the lowest unemployment rate in the history of our state, the most people working ever in the history of our state for two record years in a row even during a global pandemic because we said no to Stacey Abrams,” he added.
Kemp also blasted national Democrats for the damaging effects of inflation. He claimed that the top two issues on voters’ minds are the economy as well as tackling crime.
“Well, I think it’s a pocketbook election and a public safety election,” he added. “People are struggling, 60% of Americans are living week-to-week because of Joe Biden’s 40-year high inflation and disaster at the gas pump or their family vehicle up or their work vehicle up.”
Polls opened in Georgia at 7:00 am ET and will close at 7:00 pm. Due to the 2021 voting reform law signed by Kemp, election officials will now be required to count the votes through the night without stopping, which means it could be an early night for Abrams and Kemp.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.