New poll shows Warnock has slight lead over Walker in Georgia Senate runoff

Jack Birle

December 02, 12:04 PM December 02, 12:04 PM

A new poll shows Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) holds a slight edge over challenger Herschel Walker (R-GA) for Tuesday's Senate runoff in Georgia.

The poll shows Warnock leading Walker 52%-48% among the 1,184 likely votes surveyed by CNN and SSRS between Nov. 25-29. The pollster says the margin of error is approximately 3.8 percentage points, meaning the race is just outside the margin.

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Of the two candidates, Warnock had a higher favorable rating with likely voters. Those surveyed saw Warnock favorably by 50%-45%, while they saw Walker favorably by 39%-52%.

Also included in the survey were favorability ratings for two of the top candidates for president in 2024, with neither getting high marks. Joe Biden is viewed unfavorably by 41%-52%, while Donald Trump is also viewed unfavorably by 39%-54%. Trump announced his 2024 bid last month, while Biden says he intends to run but has occasionally hinted at not running for reelection.

The Georgia runoff will determine whether the Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, as it has been for the past two years with Vice President Kamala Harris being the tiebreaking vote, or if Democrats could gain a true majority in the chamber with a 51-49 split.

Warnock originally won his seat in January 2021 after the November 2020 special election for it went to a runoff. The runoff system has typically favored Republicans but in the last runoff, Democrats won both Senate races in the Peach State.