New Insider Advantage Georgia Poll: Democratic Race

Former Gov. Roy Barnes enjoys the same boost from name advantage on the Democratic side as does Oxendine for the GOP, just at a higher level.
The results from 664 registered voters who said if the election were held today they would choose a Democratic Ballot

Barnes: 36%

Baker: 7%

Porter: 3%

Poythress: 2%

Other: 4%

No opinion/Undecided: 48%

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7% and was weighted for age, race and gender.

Much like the GOP contest, many voters don’t know any of the candidates well enough to have formed an opinion. Barnes has been out of office almost eight years, but the residual name identification he holds makes him the strongest of the candidates.

I will note that in conducting this survey, we once again learned that the Democratic primary, if it were held today, would be made up of a majority of African-American voters. Barnes does well among black voters, but should Attorney General Baker have enough money to mount a decent television effort prior to the primary, my guess is that this race could become closer than some guess. Barnes would then have to find wedge issues to bring in the African American vote in a runoff