Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp got a big boost from the Cook Political Report on Friday after the influential political handicapper updated its rating of the governor’s race from a “toss-up” to “lean Republican.”
Kemp had “looked like the most vulnerable Republican incumbent on the map” at the beginning of the year. But that’s been mitigated by Kemp’s landslide victory over Donald Trump-endorsed candidate David Perdue in the Republican primary election, wrote Jessica Taylor, a Cooke editor. She further noted Kemp’s ability to coalesce GOP voters in the face of the former president’s fury added to his upgrade.
Kemp will be squaring off against Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams, a former state House minority leader whom he beat narrowly in 2018.
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Kemp’s internal metrics have also painted an optimistic portrait of his chances against rival Abrams in the November general election matchup, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
A Cygnal poll of 1,200 likely general election voters commissioned by Kemp’s camp showed him with a 50%-45% lead over Abrams. A deeper dive into the numbers show Kemp is winning about 60% of Hispanic women who are 50 and older and about 57% of men between the ages of 35-64.
“Abrams leads overall with Hispanics and Asians but even the fact that the governor is close to 40% with those voter groups is encouraging,” Cygnal pollster Brent Buchanan said. “Wait until he spends money on it. I believe the governor will expand on his margins with minority voters over the next few months.”
The poll also found that about 25% of black voters under the age of 35 support Kemp. Of those voters, about one-third had a negative view of President Joe Biden.
The Kemp-Abrams November rematch is one of the most highly anticipated races this year. Abrams’s loss has become a Democratic cause celebre after she refused to concede to Kemp, though she did acknowledge publicly that he is governor of Georgia.
Fundraising figures have already topped the totals from their entire 2018 campaigns, during which Kemp edged out Abrams for governor.
This year’s contest is expected to set spending records.
So far, Kemp has collected more than $25 million since he took office, surpassing the $21 million he pulled in during the last election cycle.
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Abrams, who entered the race in December and ran uncontested in the Democratic primary, had raised more than $49 million with the aid of her leadership committee, compared to the $27.6 million she raked in during the 2018 campaign.
