When Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) announced his retirement early last year, an onslaught of Republican hopefuls began vying for the open seat.
Although over a year has passed since Chambliss announced, there hasn’t been a great deal of headway made in the way of establishing a frontrunner.
The Daily Caller Reports:
The poll, conducted by Hicks Evaluation Group and Apache Political Communications, found that the top contenders for the nomination in a virtual tie around 10 percent.Perdue, the former CEO of Dollar General and the cousin of former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, ekes out a narrow lead within the margin of error at 12.7 percent. Rep. Jack Kingston and Paul Broun are tied at 10.9 percent.Rep. Phil Gingrey is at 10.4 percent, and former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel is at 10.2 percent.The remaining three candidates: Eugene Yu, Minister Derrick Grayson, and Art Gardner each get less than one percent of the vote.Mike Hassinger of Apache Political said Perdue’s slight lead was “directly attributable” to the fact that he just launched his campaign, and has been running a large television ad buy and online ads to introduce himself to the electorate. Those ads, Hassinger said, appear to be working.“He’s also the cousin of the former Governor, so I think people recognize the last name Perdue as well,” said Frederick Hicks of Hicks Evaluation Group.Hicks said Karen Handel was also likely benefiting from a recognizable name leftover from her 2010 run for governor, keeping her in the running with Perdue and the three congressman, in spite of raising significantly less money than them.
Despite being less than three months from the date of the primary, nearly 43% of likely voters remain undecided. The race is truly anybody’s game.
The eventual nominee the Republicans put forward will not face an easy opponent in the likely Democrat nominee, Michelle Nunn, who has raised over $3.3 million dollars since announcing her candidacy in July of last year.
This is a race we’ll be watching closely. The Senate is a top priority for Republicans during these midterm elections and losing a seat in the Republican stronghold of Georgia would have profound implications.
So tell us about these candidates — before it’s too late.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY