Huckabee Takes Lead in Georgia

Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has pulled into the lead among Republican voters in Georgia, while Hillary Clinton’s lead over her fellow Democrats has narrowed, a new poll reveals.

In the poll of 800 likely Georgia voters conducted by Strategic Vision LLC, Huckabee received 23 percent of the vote from Republicans, while Fred Thompson got 20 percent, and Rudy Giuliani was third with 17 percent.

John McCain received 11 percent of the vote, followed by Mitt Romney with 10 percent. No other GOP candidate got more than 4 percent, and 12 percent of respondents were undecided.

In a Strategic Vision poll in September, Thompson led with 32 percent and Huckabee got just 6 percent.

“The Republican race remains extremely volatile and appears that it could be heavily influenced by earlier contests,” said David E. Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision.

“Huckabee has surged among social conservatives and also with young voters. Thompson has tumbled dramatically in Georgia as he has in other states. Georgia would appear to favor a candidate like Huckabee over Giuliani.

“The other trend that is worth noting is that McCain is recovering slightly in Georgia as he is in other states.”

On the Democratic side, Clinton received 34 percent of the vote, beating out Barack Obama with 27 percent and John Edwards with 12 percent. Bill Richardson received 5 percent. No other candidate got more than 2 percent, and 18 percent of respondents were undecided.

Clinton led Obama by nine percentage points in the September poll.

“Clinton’s lead has declined significantly but Obama has not closed the sale nor been able to increase his support in Georgia,” said Johnson.

“Older African-Americans continue to be the cornerstone of Clinton’s support.”