A new poll released by Opinion Savvy for InsiderAdvantage, Morris News Service, and Fox 5, shows Ben Carson and Donald Trump way out ahead of the rest of the field in the 2016 Georgia GOP Presidential Primary. The poll also asked prospective voters who they thought performed well and who did poorly at Tuesday’s GOP debate on Fox Business Channel. Registered Georgia voters were selected randomly and surveyed on the evening of August 10th. The margin of error is 3.7% with 95% confidence. Crosstabs can be found at the bottom of the page.
Carson, who took 26.3% of the vote in the poll, has been under fire in recent weeks for some of his past statements. While the media has jumped on him, his numbers in the Peach State remain strong as much of the GOP base continues to push back against the story-lines pressed by the news. Donald Trump, who has led throughout much of the Summer and Fall, still sits pretty at 24%. His Georgia numbers appear to have slipped some, but with third place Ted Cruz only at 13.7%, he remains in good shape.
Establishment darlings Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush trail with 8.6% and 7.6% respectively, while former HP executive Carly Fiorina is holding on at 6.1%.
Behind them is the scrum, with New Jersey Governor’s 3.6% heading up the pack of candidates hanging on by a thread.
Who would voters support if the Georgia 2016 GOP Primary was held today:
Ben Carson – 26.3%
Donald Trump – 24.0%
Ted Cruz – 13.7%
Marco Rubio – 8.6%
Jeb Bush – 7.6%
Carly Fiorina – 6.1%
Undecided – 4.6%
Chris Christie – 3.6%
The next question asked Republican debate-watchers who they thought performed well and poorly at Monday’s GOP debate. Here, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were the big winners, putting in yet another strong debate performance as they vie for position to surge toward the top of the polls. Carson and Trump also got kudos from those polled.
Who did well in the GOP debate?
Ted Cruz – 22.2%
Marco Rubio – 21.5%
Donald Trump – 19%
Ben Carson – 15.9%
On the flip side of the coin, voters thought former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich both performed very poorly at the debate. An overwhelming 37% of voters thought Kasich performed the worst, while Bush struggled once more, with 20.3% of Georgia viewers tagging him as the candidate who did most poorly. Will either candidate make it to 2016? That’s yet to be determined, but they’ll have to turn it around in upcoming debates to have any success in Georgia, that’s for sure.
Who did poorly in the GOP debate?
John Kasich – 37.5%
Jeb Bush – 20.3%
Donald Trump – 9.6%
Rand Paul – 9.5%
Full results as well as methodology and other information can be found HERE.