CNN Poll: Nunn Now Leads Perdue by 3 Points

Michelle Nunn, the Democratic candidate running for the open Senate seat in Georgia, is statistically tied with Republican David Perdue, a new poll has found.

According to a survey by CNN/ORC International conducted Oct. 19-22 of 565 likely voters, 47 percent support Nunn compared to 44 percent who plan to vote for Perdue, a spread which is within the survey’s 4-point margin of error.

The survey also found that Libertarian candidate Amanda Swafford has 5 percent support. Her presence could throw the race into a runoff, which would be held on Jan. 6, if neither of the two leading candidates reach the required 50 percent threshold to win the seat.

A poll released Wednesday gave Nunn a 2-point lead, also within the margin of error.  And earlier polls have also indicated that the race is a statistical tie, through in the first week of October, Perdue was ahead with a 4-point lead in one poll and a 3-point lead in another.

A victory for Nunn would be a coup for the Democratic Party, which has not won a statewide race in the solidly red state in over a decade, CNN noted.

"The Georgia electorate appears to be the most pro-Obama group of likely voters in the 11 states CNN has surveyed this fall," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That’s not saying much — Obama’s approval rating among Georgia likely voters is only 44 percent. But that’s still better than the high-30s he gets in states like Iowa and New Hampshire, not to mention the low 30s in Kansas and Alaska."

The poll also found that female voters strongly prefer Nunn, who has 56 percent support compared to 38 percent who back Perdue.

In a signal that Democrats believe a win in Georgia is within striking distance, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee this week bought $800,000 in media advertising, which started Wednesday and will run until the end of the campaign. The party is expected to make an additional $200,000 buy as well, Politico reported.

Republicans, meanwhile, have attempted to prevail in an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign to tie in with the early voting that began in the state Oct. 13.

They have spent months building the effort which Georgia GOP spokesman, Ryan Mahoney, described as "the largest grassroots operation the party has had in modern history," CNN reported earlier this month.

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