Democrat Michelle Nunn has a sizeable lead over Republican David Perdue in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, a new poll found, thanks in large part to a huge gender gap.
Republicans need a net gain of six seats in November to win control of the Senate. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., now holds the Georgia seat, but is retiring.
Nunn has 47 percent in the new WSB-TV Channel 2/Landmark Communications poll, while Perdue has 40 percent. The poll was conducted Aug. 20-21. The big reason for Nunn’s lead: The gender gap.
The results differ from a finding Aug. 12-13 by InsiderAdvantage/Fox 5, which found Perdue ahead, 47-40.
In the WSB poll, Nunn is ahead, 52-34 percent, among women, while Perdue leads by 7 among men.
“There’s a widening or stagnant gender gap. Mr. Perdue does not seem to be moving or closing his number,” said Channel 2 analyst Bill Crane in a story posted on the WSB site. “He’s about 20 points behind Michelle Nunn in females.”
But Matt Towery, InsiderAdvantage chief executive officer, noted that “Perdue, who did well with women voters in both the primary and the primary runoff, continues to perform well, running about equal with Nunn. But among male voters Perdue has a significant lead.”
For Nunn to do well, he said, “she must increase her numbers among white men, and among independent voters, who currently favor Perdue by 14 points. She will pick up additional points as African-American voters drift from the undecided camp and as the youngest of voters, who likely have never heard of Perdue, drift more to their natural Democratic voting pattern.”