The poll shows Handel pulling 47 percent of the vote, with 42 percent of the likely Republican runoff voters surveyed saying they planned to vote for Deal. Eleven percent were undecided.
Handel, the former secretary of state from Roswell, is battling Deal, an ex-congressman from Gainesville, in Tuesday's runoff. The winner will face Democrat Roy Barnes in the November general election.
The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, D.C., between Wednesday and Friday. It was paid for by 13 daily newspapers with readership across Georgia. The poll surveyed 625 likely voters about their choices.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The survey shows Deal winning nearly a majority - 48 percent - of support from voters who backed one of the five losing Republican candidates in the state's July 20 primary. Those voters could be critical to Tuesday's outcome.
Handel performs well in her voter-rich metro-Atlanta base, according to the poll, winning 52 percent of support there, compared with 37 percent for Deal. In the rest of the state, Deal leads with 47 percent of the vote, compared with 42 percent for Handel, according to the poll.
The poll also shows Handel - who is running to become Georgia's first woman governor - with a strong edge among female voters. Fifty percent are backing her compared with 37 percent for Deal.
Deal had support from 46 percent of male voters, while Handel was close behind with 45 percent, the poll found.
Among those surveyed who said they are voting for Handel, 27 percent listed fiscal and economic issues and 26 percent noted honesty and integrity. For Deal voters, experience and background was No. 1, with 23 percent naming it as the reason they're voting for the veteran congressman. Seventeen percent listed fiscal and economic issues, the poll said.
While the Handel camp has been touting her support from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, only 9 percent of Handel voters surveyed said endorsements were the reason they are backing Handel.
Both the Handel and Deal campaigns said the new poll is good news.
Handel spokesman Dan McLagan said the campaign feels momentum heading into Tuesday's runoff.
"It's clear that the people of Georgia are rejecting Congressman Deal's negative attacks on Karen," McLagan said.
Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said the results show Deal is keeping pace.
"Nathan Deal is neck and neck with Karen Handel after suffering two weeks of withering, reckless, false attacks," Robinson said.
"It shows what direction the race is moving. If those undecideds who voted for someone else break along the line they already have, we're sitting really pretty."
Karen Handel
http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/8/231038