Republican Representative Mike Collins of Georgia advanced to a runoff election versus former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, following a primary election earlier this month. Neither candidate received 50 percent of the vote, forcing another contest to determine the state’s GOP candidate for U.S. Senate.
In a survey from JMC Analytics and Polling this week, Collins leads Dooley by double digits. When asked “If the Republican runoff race for US Senate were held today, which candidate would you support?'” 50 percent said Collins versus 36 percent for Dooley and 15 percent were undecided.
Collins or Dooley in November will face off against Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in the Peach State’s high-stakes senatorial battle.
Newsweek reached out to both Dooley and Collins’ campaigns via email on Friday for comment.
What To Know
The poll from JMC Analytics and Polling surveyed 600 respondents on May 26 and May 27 about the Georgia Republican runoff. The poll’s margin of error is 4 percent.
When asked “Given that you are undecided in the runoff race for Senate, which candidate are you leaning towards supporting?” 39 percent picked Collins, 27 percent said Dooley and 34 percent still said undecided. In a forced ballot, Collins received 55 percent, Dooley received 39 percent and 7 percent were undecided.
In the poll, Collins received a 61 percent favorability rating versus an 18 percent unfavorable rating. Twenty one percent said they have no opinion and 1 percent said they have never heard of Collins.
Dooley’s favorability rating in the poll is 50 percent versus a 19 percent unfavorable rating. The survey shows that 28 percent have no opinion of Dooley and 2 percent have never heard of him.
Meanwhile, Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp has thrown his support behind Dooley after deciding not to run for the seat himself. President Donald Trump has not endorsed a candidate in this race.
What Polls Show
In a snap poll by Quantus Insights following the primary election last week, Collins has 53.5 percent of the vote compared to Dooley’s 37.2 percent. The poll was conducted from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 20 among 782 likely Republican Georgia primary voters. “Results were weighted to a modeled likely Republican runoff electorate,” with an effective sample size of 739, the poll notes, and has a margin of error of 3.9 percent.
In another poll taken after the primary election last week by InsiderAdvantage, Collins had 46 percent of the vote compared to Dooley’s 41 percent and 13 percent were undecided. The poll was taken on May 20 and May 21 among 800 likely voters and has a margin of error of 3.46 percent.
InsiderAdvantage Pollster Matt Towery said in the survey about the gubernatorial and Senate runoff elections in the state that: “I expect this runoff to have very light voter participation. This means that candidates must concentrate on hardcore Republican voters who follow politics and almost always vote. [Burt] Jones certainly has the edge in his race due to Donald Trump’s endorsement. Collins likely has the edge in his race due to his longtime participation in the Georgia GOP. But that might be countered by Governor Kemp’s strong political operation and Kemp’s endorsement [of Dooley].”
Read the full article here
