POLL: Race virtually tied with 2 weeks to go

ATLANTA — The latest exclusive WSB-TV, Landmark Communications poll of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District runoff election shows Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff are virtually neck-and-neck.

The poll interviewed 500 voters on the phone and via online surveys.

Ossoff holds a slight lead over Handel – 49.1 percent to 47.6 percent.

But with a margin of error of 4.4 percent and 3 percent undecided, the race is truly anyone’s to win.

“We’re looking at a dead heat. Probably right now we’re within a 2 to 3 point margin either way. Really, either candidate could win that,” said Mark Rountree, the president of Landmark Communications.

Ossoff leads with younger voters, age 18-39, while Handel has the edge with voters older than 65.

Male voters tend to go more for Handel, and female voters tend to support Ossoff.

Experts say the race that’s getting national attention is going to come down to who can actually get their supporters to the polls.

Channel 2 Political Analyst Bill Crane believes the race has become a kind of referendum on the Trump presidency.

“Probably there’s been some additional dissatisfaction from people who did vote for the president in November who may have seen enough,” Crane said.

The Ossoff campaign sent the following statement about the poll: “This race is neck and neck and our campaign is going to continue to work as hard as we ever have to ensure we don’t send another career politician to Washington.”

The Handel campaign sent the follow statement about the poll: “With the race tied, it’s important that every Republican take their duty to get out and vote seriously. Otherwise, California money could end up buying another Georgia Congressional seat for the Democrats.”

Early voting started Tuesday and runs through June 16. Election Day is June 20.

On Tuesday, WSB-TV will hold the first debate and the only one that will air LIVE in prime-time.

The debate will be hosted by Channel 2 Action News anchor Justin Farmer and will include as panelists WSB Radio’s Condace Pressley, Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s Greg Bluestein and WSB-TV Political Reporter Richard Elliot.

The debate will air LIVE on Channel 2, WSBTV.com and the official WSB-TV Facebook page.

Rountree believes Tuesday’s debate on Channel 2 could go a long way to deciding the outcome of the election.

“The main thing that I think could change and tip the scales a little bit here and there are the debate performances,” Rountree said.

Cox Media Group