AJC Poll: Handel Surges Into the GOP Lead

Published July 18, 2010 at 10:19 a.m.
(Courtesy AJC) -- Bolstered by an endorsement from conservative superstar Sarah Palin, former Secretary of State Karen Handel appears to have surged into the lead of the Republican race for governor, according to a new statewide poll conducted for the Georgia Newspaper Partnership.

The poll of 400 likely Republican primary voters taken Thursday and Friday put Handel in first place with 29 percent of Georgians polled saying she would get their vote. That's up 6 percentage points from an earlier poll that was partially taken before Palin's endorsement on Monday.

The change has left previous frontrunner, state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine in second place with 22 percent and former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal at 20 percent.

Of Republicans polled, another 13 percent said they support former state Senate leader Eric Johnson, and 13 percent were undecided. Other candidates received 3 percent.

The results of the new Mason-Dixon Polling & Research poll showed a shift from a poll the company released Wednesday. That sampling was taken July 8 through July 13.

The earlier poll had Oxendine the leader with 31 percent of the vote, followed by Handel with 23 percent, Deal with 18 percent and Johnson at 6 percent. On the Democratic side, the poll gave former Gov. Roy Barnes a commanding lead and indicated he could win the primary without a runoff.

Mason-Dixon conducted both polls for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 12 other Georgia newspapers. Both have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, said his company did a second Republican poll because it noticed Handel picking up steam early last week.

Coker said,  Handel now is the frontrunner and Oxendine is fighting Deal for a spot in the runoff. The Palin endorsement definitely helped.




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