GOP faces electoral conundrum in Georgia, new poll suggests

A new poll released by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday suggests the Republican Party is in a tough spot in Georgia.

Democrats — including President Biden, Stacy Abrams, and newly-elected Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) — have strong favorability ratings, while Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) and former President Donald Trump are floundering.

But the more telling results may belong to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who became a Trump target when he dismissed conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud in the state's presidential election. The refusal to flinch left him in relatively good graces in Georgia, though it turns out his numbers were buoyed in large part by Democrats, 60 percent of whom said they approve of the job he's done. Republicans, meanwhile, backed Raffensperger at around only 38 percent, while nearly 45 percent said they disapprove. For context, President Trump received nearly 85 percent support from Republicans, despite his paltry overall numbers.

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And therein lies the conundrum. The poll suggests a Republican like Raffensperger could mount a challenge in a statewide election in Georgia, but winning a Republican primary to get there looks difficult. And a candidate more in the mold of Trump would have a good shot at winning the primary, but would likely face an uphill battle in the general, seemingly leaving the party in no-man's land for the moment.

The poll involved 858 registered Georgia voters and was conducted Jan. 17-28 by UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs. The margin of error is 4.2 percentage points. Read more at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.