Polls: Chambliss Solidifies Narrow Lead

A pair of polls out today show incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) solidifying his close re-election lead in the Peach State with just a week and a half left before Election Day.

An Insider Advantage poll of 615 likely voters, conducted Thursday, found Chambliss at 44 percent to 42 percent for Democrat Jim Martin, a former state representative. A Rasmussen poll of 500 likely voters, conducted Wednesday, found the same margin: 46 percent for Chambliss to 44 percent for Martin.

The same two-percent margin was found by a Strategic Vision poll of 800 likely voters conducted Monday and Tuesday, and by a Research 2000 poll of 600 likely voters conducted last week.

Except for an Oct. 9 Insider Advantage/Poll Position poll that found the race tied, Chambliss has never fallen behind Martin in the race, although his margin has shrunk considerably from leads that approached or exceeded 20 percent in the spring and summer.

Chambliss’s vanquished 2002 opponent, Max Cleland, has been campaigning and fundraising for Martin, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has also been pouring money into the race.

–J. Taylor Rushing