A new poll indicates that Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp and the state’s GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker are leading their Democratic opponents ahead of the 2022 election.
On Tuesday, Emerson College released an exclusive poll that reported that Walker has a 46% to 44% lead over incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA). Kemp meanwhile leads Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams 48% to 44%.
“Walker leads Warnock among rural voters 58% to 24% while Warnock leads Walker 66% to 25% among urban voters. In the suburbs, voters are breaking for Walker by a nine-point margin, 50% to 41%,” Spencer Kimball, Executive Director of Emerson College Polling, said in a press release.
The suburbs were a crucial component of President Joe Biden’s Peach State victory, and the lengthy lead in that demographic for Walker could spell good news for the GOP — but Walker’s lead has tightened since Emerson last polled voters in July.
According to the poll, 36% of voters said the economy was their number one concern.
“While the economy is the most important issue for both male and female voters, the second most important issue differs,” Kimball explained. “Among women, abortion access is the most important concern for 28%, whereas among men, 19% say crime is the most important issue.”
Walker, a political outsider, previously told The Daily Wire that he decided to run for office in part because of how great Georgia is.
“That’s one reason I decided to run for office,” Walker said. “I know Georgia is a good place.”
“Look at myself, that’s where I came from. And I’m black. That’s another thing,” Walker added. “I grew up in, I think, one of the greatest states in the United States of America. Right now, from what people are saying, I can still say it’s one of the best states, and I am going to fight to continue to prove that.”
Walker also expressed his gratitude for the racial progress made in the state since the 1970s, when he played football at University of Georgia.
“We’ve come so far,” the Senate candidate said. “Ten years before I got to the University of Georgia the first black players played at University of Georgia. Today, I will bet you, probably the majority of the players at University of Georgia are African American.”
“So, we’ve come so far since 1971,” he continued. “Do we have a ways to go? We do. But are we getting there? Yes we are.”
Recently, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) held a fundraising event for Walker and two GOP candidates in Kentucky.
“I pick out three of our candidates every summer that I think have the best shot at winning and invite them,” McConnell said. “And I picked these three because I thought they were in critical states and had a good chance of winning.”
The general election is on November 8.