According to a new poll from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the favorability numbers for Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp have been surging, of late. Perhaps most interestingly, as The Journal-Constitution also highlights, is that Kemp’s polling surge has coincided with Georgia’s legislative advancement of a fetal heartbeat protection pro-life bill that large swaths of the cultural and political Left have fearmongered as retrograde and abhorrent.
Per The Journal-Constitution:
Gov. Brian Kemp’s approval ratings are on the upswing after a legislative session dominated by his embrace of an anti-abortion measure, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows. …
The poll shows 46% of registered Georgia voters have a favorable impression of Kemp as he nears his third month as governor, 9 points higher than the 37% rating he tallied in the AJC’s January poll as he was sworn into office.
He’s outpacing [President] Trump, who was the model for Kemp’s campaign. About 40% of Georgia voters approve of the president, statistically unchanged from 38% in January. Nearly 56% of Georgians disapprove of Trump, compared with Kemp’s 39% disapproval rating.
Kemp’s polling surge flies in the face of a coordinated Hollywood effort to shame and boycott Georgia due to its advancement of the pro-life legislation.
Even more fascinating, given the nature of Georgia’s fetal heartbeat bill, is that Kemp’s standing has actually improved with women, as well. More from The Journal-Constitution:
[T]he poll showed Kemp’s difficulties with women and his standing with men improved over the past three months.
His support among men jumped from 44% to 55% over that span, while his reviews among women ticked up 7 percentage points to 38%. About 46% of women rated him unfavorably, compared with less than one-third of men.
As Erick Erickson notes at The Resurgent, Kemp’s polling surge has transpired as the state’s new leftist icon, Stacey Abrams, plummets in her own favorability numbers:
Stacey Abrams, meanwhile, saw her popularity crater. She was at 52% favorability and is now at 45%. The troubling part is that her unfavorability is also 45%. She is both far more polarizing and far more disliked than Brian Kemp. …
Abrams has badly played her hand and the new polling suggests Democrats probably want to look for a candidate elsewhere.
Georgia’ fetal heartbeat bill currently sits on Kemp’s desk, awaiting its formal gubernatorial signature and enactment into law. Just yesterday, as The Daily Wire reported, Ohio signed into law its own fetal heartbeat bill:
“The signing of this bill today is consistent with that respect for life and the imperative to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” [Republican Governor Mike] DeWine said before signing the bill, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The legislation protects unborn babies with beating hearts, which can be detectable at around six weeks gestation, from the fatal procedure of abortion.
The bill, which includes an exception for the life of the mother, was introduced to the House on Tuesday and signed by the governor by 3:30 p.m. local time on Thursday.
As The Daily Wire noted, Ohio’s fetal heartbeat bill had twice been previously vetoed by former governor John Kasich. Kasich had allegedly voiced concerns over the “legal bill taxpayers would foot,” according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.