Republican Herschel Walker is leading Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock in a tightening race critical to the GOP’s effort to claw back the upper chamber, according to a new poll.
The survey released Tuesday from Emerson College showed Mr. Warnock trailing Mr. Walker by 2 points, 44% to 46%. It was the first major poll since April that showed the GOP challenger on top.
The numbers will come as welcomed news to Mr. Walker, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump but has suffered some campaign missteps and lackluster fundraising.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, gave Mr. Walker a boost last week with a fundraising event for him and several other Trump-backed Republican Senate candidates.
Mr. McConnell said that Mr. Walker, along with fellow GOP Senate hopefuls Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania and Rep. Ted Budd of North Carolina, had a “good chance of winning.” It was a change of tune for Mr. McConnell, who recently came under fire from Mr. Trump and other Republicans for expressing concern — without mentioning names — that “candidate quality” could threaten the party’s chances to regain the Senate.
The Georgia contest is one of the most competitive cycles, in which Republicans need a net gain of just one seat to win back control of the evenly split 50-50 chamber.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball out of the University of Virginia both consider the Georgia race a toss-up. RealClear Politics’ average of the most recent polls shows Mr. Walker trailing Mr. Warnock by a little more than 3 points, 47% to 43.7%.
Regardless of who they support, 53% of voters polled by Emerson College said they expect Mr. Warnock to win while 47% expect Mr. Walker.
The survey also showed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, leading Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams by four points, 48% to 44%. Polling has leaned in Mr. Kemp’s favor.
The poll was conducted Aug. 28-29 among 600 voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.