Campaign

Warnock holds 2-point lead over Walker in Georgia: survey

by Olafimihan Oshin - 09/21/22 4:06 PM ET

Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock — Associated Press-Ben Gray/Greg Nash

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) is currently holding a 2-point lead over Republican challenger Herschel Walker in the latest CBS News-YouGov poll.

The poll, published on Wednesday, found that 51 percent of respondents supported Warnock, who defeated former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) in a special election last year, compared to 49 percent for Walker, who has the endorsement of former President Trump.

Walker, a former football star at the University of Georgia and in the NFL, has closed the gap against Warnock, and another poll this month placed him slightly ahead in the race.

Overall, voters had a more positive view of Warnock: 58 percent of respondents to the CBS News-YouGov poll said they had a positive view of how the Democrat handles himself professionally, compared to 42 percent who had a favorable view of Walker.

When asked to describe both candidates, 56 percent of respondents said Warnock has a strong moral character compared to 43 percent of respondents who had the same sentiment for Walker.

The former football standout has made a number of gaffes on the campaign trail, while denying reports that he hid three children he fathered with multiple women.

He downplayed himself ahead of his debate with Warnock next month, saying “I’m not that smart” — comments that his campaign argued were sarcasm.

Fifty-four percent of poll respondents said Warnock is a good role model, compared to 44 percent who said the same of Walker. And only 28 percent of respondents said Walker has the right experience for the job, compared to 52 percent for incumbent Warnock.

The Georgia Senate race is amount the most closely watched in this year’s election cycle, with control of the Senate seen as a toss up.

According to a Monmouth University poll published Wednesday, 45 percent of respondents said that they would either definitely or probably vote for Warnock, compared to the 41 percent of registered voters who said the same for Walker.

The new CBS News-YouGov poll was conducted from Sept. 14 to Sept. 19 with a total of 1,178 respondents participating in the survey. The poll’s margin of error was 4 percentage points.