Politics
Georgia governor’s contest nearly even, UGA poll finds
Republican Rick Jackson leads Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms by one percentage point among likely voters, within the poll’s 3.1-point margin of error. Independents narrowly favor Bottoms, while nearly one in five in that group remain undecided.
A new poll of likely Georgia voters finds the governor’s race between Republican Rick Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms essentially tied, with the November contest approaching.
The survey, released Oct. 20, found 46% support Jackson and 45% support Bottoms. Eight percent of respondents were undecided. The one-point gap is smaller than the poll’s 3.1-percentage-point margin of error, so the results do not establish a clear leader.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs conducted the telephone poll with 1,000 likely voters from Oct. 7 through Oct. 15. Participants were registered Georgia voters who said they were definitely or probably going to vote in the 2026 general election and had voted in at least one of several recent elections, including the 2022 or 2024 general election or the 2026 primary.
The poll found strong alignment by party: 94% of Republicans said they support Jackson, while 93% of Democrats backed Bottoms. Among independents, Bottoms led 43% to 38%; 18% of independents were undecided.
The close topline and the remaining undecided voters leave the outcome uncertain. The poll offers a snapshot of voter preferences, not a prediction of how the election will end.