Poll: Doug Collins leads among Georgia Republicans

Former Rep. Doug Collins (R) would start a bid for a U.S. Senate seat ahead of three potential rivals, including the woman who bested him in November’s all-party primary, according to a new survey conducted by a Republican consulting firm.

Collins claims 35 percent support among Georgia Republican primary voters, according to the poll conducted by OnMessage Inc.

Former NFL and University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker takes 27 percent of the vote, former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) stands at 22 percent support, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) would earn 7 percent of the vote if she were to run.

In a head-to-head race, Collins leads Loeffler 55 percent to 36 percent. In November’s all-party primary, Loeffler finished with 26 percent of the vote, about 6 points ahead of Collins.

Loeffler lost the subsequent runoff against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin, a difference of about 95,000 votes.

OnMessage is not working for any of the candidates. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who chairs the National Senatorial Campaign Committee, is one of the firm’s top clients.

The race is likely to be shaped substantially by former President Trump, should he choose to get more involved.

From his club at Mar-a-Lago, Trump has encouraged Walker to make his first bid for elected office. Collins is a close Trump ally who defended the president during his first impeachment trial. Trump stayed neutral in the all-party primary, though Senate Republicans threw their support behind the appointed Loeffler.

Ninety percent of Georgia Republican voters said they have a favorable impression of Trump, including 74 percent who see Trump very favorably.

Georgia is likely to be an epicenter of the political universe once again in 2022, as Warnock seeks a full term in a race that could determine the balance of power in the evenly divided United States Senate.

Trump is likely to weigh in on several other primary elections in the state; on Monday, he endorsed Rep. Jody Hice’s (R) bid to oust Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), and he harbors negative feelings toward Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who is likely to draw his own primary challenger.

The OnMessage Inc. poll surveyed 600 likely Republican voters March 14-15. It carried a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

GA Primary Survey March 2021 by Lauren Vella on Scribd