GA Sen: Karen Handel Surges to Virtual Tie in Another Poll

Georgia Secretary of State and GOP Senate candidate Karen Handel has surged to a virtual tie in another poll. 

In the Rosetta Stone Communications poll conducted on May 6, moderate businessman David Perdue received 23.1%; Karen Handel 21%; Rep. Jack Kingston 15.1%; Rep. Paul Broun 8.6%; Rep Phil Gingrey 8.5%. The poll also found that 20.1% were still undecided. 

Handel said that “momentum is with us” and touted a recent endorsement of the Tea Party Express, one of many endorsements she has received since former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed and campaigned for her when Handel was in fifth in the polls.  

The poll conducted for the Handel campaign had a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points and is the fourth consecutive poll in which Handel is the only candidate that has shown momentum.

“This survey is consistent with other poll results we have seen in the last 10 days,” said John Garst, President of Rosetta Stone Communications. “Karen Handel has been gaining ground steadily since late April and is now poised to take the number one spot heading into the July 22 run-off.”

Garst also said that Kingston, who is not even within the margin of error of second place, “is just not connecting with voters” who “are not buying the routine with the station wagon and the children with holes in their clothes.”

An Insider Advantage poll last week found “establishment candidate David Perdue with 22%; Handel with 21%; Rep. Jack Kingston with 17%; Rep. Paul Broun with 14%; Rep. Phil Gingrey with 12%. That poll had 11% undecided before the May 20 primary.

Insider Advantage’s Matt Towery also said that “Kingston has been losing metro-Atlanta female support with his ‘folksy’ TV ads for weeks” and Handel has been “picking up significant female support and is starting to leave both David Perdue and Jack Kingston substantially behind with women.

As Breitbart News has been noting, “Perdue has been under fire after he mocked Handel and said she was not qualified to serve in Congress because she lacked a college degree, even though only 27.8 percent of Georgians over 25 have college degrees”:

The vast majority of Georgians, including Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor and Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, have just high school diplomas like Handel. Perdue apologized a week after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released a video of his remarks, but Georgia state Senator Josh McKoon was not buying the “apology,” saying it reeked of “political expediency.”

“Last week when asked about the comments, David’s spokesman said they were just based on facts that are a matter of public record. The next day, the same spokesman said he wasn’t aware of a suggestion that an apology was in order,” McKoon said then. “After a week of receiving negative national attention, and being ridiculed as an out-of-touch self-funding elitist who thinks he can buy this election, David’s political consultants have seen the writing on the wall.”

As Breitbart News reported, the Cook Political Report moved the Georgia Senate race to a toss-up from “lean Republican” after “candidates like Rep. Jack Kingston said that poor students should sweep cafeteria floors to get their lunches and another candidate, Rep. Phil Gingrey, defended Todd Akin’s infamous ‘legitimate rape’ comments from 2012.”

Palin, who this week recorded a robocall for Handel, endorsed Handel on March 27, emphasizing her pro-life credentials and proven history of cutting spending. She campaigned for Handel on April 2 and slammed Perdue for denigrating Handel and Georgians who did not have fancy college degrees.:

Two polls were taken in the weeks before Palin endorsed Handel. In one poll conducted for Channel 2 Action News, Perdue had 21% while Handel had 10%. In a SurveyUSA Poll, Perdue led with 29% while Handel had 10% in that poll as well. 

Since Palin’s endorsement, Handel was within the margin of error for second in an Insider Advantage Poll taken two weeks ago, gained a net of eight points in another Survey USA poll, and is essentially tied for first in the most recent Insider Advantage poll. 

Handel campaign’s first radio ad only featured Palin. And her first television ad prominently featured Palin as well. 

The Handel campaign told the Augusta Chronicle that Palin’s endorsement, along with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s that emphasized Handel’s pro-enforcement position on immigration, has been responsible for her surge, especially with suburban women voters.