Georgia Polls: Brian Kemp Takes Double-Digit Lead over David Perdue in Governor's Primary Race

Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has taken a commanding lead over former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) in the Georgia Republican primary race for governor, according to a pair of GOP polls.

One of the polls, conducted by BK Strategies from March 6 to 8, found Kemp ahead of Perdue by 15 points, receiving 48 percent support compared to Perdue’s 33 percent. Fourteen percent of respondents said they were undecided.

The other poll, taken by American Viewpoint from March 1 to 3, found Kemp up 16 points, receiving 51 percent support compared to Perdue’s 35 percent. Eight percent of respondents said they were undecided.

Perdue mounted a gubernatorial challenge to Kemp in December with backing from former President Donald Trump. The former one-term senator and wealthy businessman launched his campaign in response to criticisms, largely led by Trump, over Kemp’s handling of Georgia’s 2020 election process. “Instead of protecting our elections, [Kemp] caved to Abrams,” Perdue charged in his initial campaign message in reference to Democrat gubernatorial candidate and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.

Perdue has for the past couple months however been trailing in polls by roughly ten points and has expanded his focus from election integrity as he tests out other issues that could speak to Georgians and potentially boost his position in the race.

Perdue has, for instance, begun criticizing Kemp for the governor’s landmark deal with Rivian, an electric vehicle company that plans to build a massive plant in a rural area east of Atlanta and create 7,500 jobs. Perdue called the deal “insane” and pointed to Democrat megadonor George Soros’s $2 billion investment in the company and concerns from locals about how the plant would drastically transform their community.

Perdue has also touted his support for the Buckhead cityhood movement, an effort to deannex the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood from Atlanta to become its own city. The movement was driven largely by community members fed up with violent crime in Atlanta and seeking a means to create their own police department. Bills introduced in the state legislature this session to create a ballot referendum for Buckhead cityhood have however hit a wall. Perdue told Breitbart News of the stalled bills, “This is the height of corruption that you see under the Gold Dome.”

The polls, albeit from relatively lesser-known pollsters, could be an indication that Perdue’s broadened messaging has not resonated with voters.

The BK poll asked respondents what they believe is the most important issue facing the country today, and the economy and inflation were their top issues, receiving 13 percent each, followed by immigration, which received 11 percent.

Perdue heavily promotes his endorsement of Trump, campaigned with Donald Trump Jr. this month, and plans to rally with the former president in Georgia in just under two weeks.

Asked how important Trump’s endorsement was to voters, the BK poll revealed that 48.8 percent found it important and 49.2 percent found it unimportant.

Broken down more specifically, of the 48.8 percent who found it important, 7.6 percent found it to be the single most important factor in a candidate, 17 percent found it to be a very important factor, and 24.2 percent found it somewhat important. Of the 49.2 percent who found it unimportant, 20.2 percent said it was not that important and 29 percent said it was not important at all.

The BK poll was conducted among 500 likely Republican primary voters and had a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percent.

The American Viewpoint poll was conducted among 600 likely Republican primary voters and had a margin of error of +/- four percent.

The Georgia primary race takes place in just over two months, on May 24.

Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.