Neither candidate in the crucial Georgia Senate race appears poised to cruise to victory in less than two weeks, a new poll released Wednesday shows.
Democratic candidate Michelle Nunn and Republican foe David Perdue are locked in a statistical tie as Nunn snags a slim two-point lead in the SurveyUSA poll conducted for CNN affiliate in Atlanta WXIA. That lead is within the poll’s 4.1 percentage point margin of error.
And if the Nov. 4 ballot count stays in line with the poll numbers, Nunn and Perdue are headed for a runoff – in January.
One of the candidates must crack the 50 percent threshold in the vote count on Election Day to avoid a runoff on Jan. 6 – or three days after the next Congress meets for the first time.
Nunn leads Perdue by two points with 46 percent of the vote, and the Libertarian candidate Amanda Swafford appears to be keeping either candidate from reaching the crucial 50 percent number.
Swafford is pulling in four percent of support in the Senate race, a small portion that could just make her the spoiler in this election.
A third candidate in Louisiana, Republican Rob Maness, is also pulling in enough support to possibly push the competitive Louisiana contest to a runoff in December, when three-term Sen. Mary Landrieu could very well lose her Senate seat.
The Georgia poll released Wednesday did echo recent polls that show the Republican and Democrat in a dead heat, with neither candidate cracking 50 percent.
Early voting has already begun in Georgia, and Republicans are touting what one state Republican official called the most impressive GOP ground game in the state’s history – an investment they hope will push them across the finish line to victory.