(The Center Square) – A new poll released Friday shows Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff leading Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins with 50% of the vote to Collins’ 42%.
Eight percent of voters in the InsiderAdvantage Poll said they are undecided.
While Collins is trailing, Republican Rick Jackson is leading Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms 48%-46% with 6% undecided, according to the poll of 1,200 Georgians taken Tuesday and Wednesday.
“In my many years as a pollster and analyst, I’ve never seen something like this,” said InsiderAdvantage Pollster Matt Towery. “Usually a well-funded Republican Senate candidate is close (in terms of percentage of likely voters) to that for a well-funded gubernatorial candidate. But if this trend holds, there will be a lot of ‘ticket splitting’ in a state not known for it.”
A poll of 3,447 released earlier on Wednesday by YouGov shows Ossoff with a wider lead of 52%-42%.
Collins appeared with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. In a video published on television station WAGA, Thune said he believes the polls are continuing to tighten.
“If you look at the polling that has been done of late, this is a margin of error race,” Thune told reporters. “This is a margin of error race. It’s going to come down to who gets out to vote on Election Day. And there’s been a significant investment made now in ensuring that we turn our voters out, come election day.”
Collins is also backed by Gov. Brian Kemp and second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
Ossoff has support across party lines in Tifton Mayor Julie Smith and Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson. Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona has also endorsed Ossoff.
