Poll: Burns leading Walker

Posted 8:12AM on Monday 4th November 2002 ( 22 years ago )

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Republican Max Burns holds an unanticipated lead over Democrat Charles "Champ" Walker Jr. in the race for Georgia's 12th Congressional District, according to a new poll. The Augusta Chronicle/WRDW-TV poll, conducted by telephone last week among 670 Georgians who said they expect to vote in the election Tuesday, showed Burns leading 36.5 percent to 24.9 percent, with 35.5 percent undecided. Libertarian candidate Marc Smith had 3.1 percent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Burns' strong showing was unexpected in the 12th District, which sprawls across 202 miles from Athens to Augusta to Savannah. It's a new district drawn by the majority Democrat state Legislature, which includes Walker's father, state Sen. Charles Walker Sr. "I'm beginning to think that Burns is going to win, something I would not have believed was possible," said University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock. Sixty percent of voters in the 12th District are Democrats. The poll, conducted by online media company Insider Advantage, showed the race is breaking down along racial lines. Burns was winning 56 percent of the white vote and Walker had 46.5 percent of the black vote. Among black voters polled, 44.2 percent were undecided compared to 29.6 percent undecided white voters. "Given the fact that the undecideds are evenly broken out, if the trend were to continue, Burns would likely defeat Walker," said Matt Towers, chairman of Insider Advantage. Walker has to reach out to more white voters to win, Bullock said. "He would need to pick up much more of the white vote to be able to put together a successful biracial coalition," he said. Walker declined to discuss the poll. His spokesman, John Kirincich, said he's "very suspicious" of any poll that shows more than a third of voters undecided less than a week before the election. Burns said the only poll he was interested in is the one Tuesday. "We're going to focus on that," he said. "It's the only thing that counts."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/11/188099