Coming off his razor-thin Republican Primary runoff win on Tuesday, former Congressman Nathan Deal earns better than 50% support against Democrat Roy Barnes in Georgia's race for governor.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Georgia Voters finds Deal with 51% of the vote versus Barnes' 42%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and another three percent (3%) are undecided.

These new findings move Georgia from a Toss-Up to Leans GOP in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard.

Last month, Deal posted a 49% to 43% lead over Barnes, who previously served as governor from 1999 to 2003. Deal has held a small lead over Barnes in surveys since March, earning 43% to 49% of the vote. Support for Barnes in those same surveys has ranged from 39% to 43%.

Republicans seem to have come together quickly following Deal's 50.2% to 49.8% runoff win this week over Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, who quickly endorsed the victor. Deal earns 92% support from Republicans in the state. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Georgia Democrats back Barnes. Voters not affiliated with either major party prefer the Republican by a 56% to 33% margin.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Georgia voters view Deal as an ideological conservative. As for Barnes, 40% think he's a liberal, while 31% say he's moderate and 24% a conservative.

Despite these perceived ideological differences, voters tend to see both men's views as mainstream. Forty-nine percent (49%) say Deal's political views put him in the mainstream, and 51% say the same of Barnes. Similarly, 31% view Deal as extreme, while 35% think that of Barnes.

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The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Georgia was conducted on August 11, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Fifteen percent (15%) of Georgia voters have a Very Favorable opinion of Deal, while 13% regard him Very Unfavorably.

Barnes is viewed Very Favorably by 22% and Very Unfavorably by 26%.

Both men are well-known in the state, but at this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Forty-one percent (41%) of voters in the state rate their personal finances as good or excellent. Only 13% say their finances are poor. Twenty-three percent (23%) say those finances are getting better, but 45% believe they are getting worse.

Voters remain evenly divided in their assessment of Republican Governor Sonny Perdue's job performance: 49% approve, 49% disapprove. That's unchanged from the previous survey. Perdue, who defeated Barnes in 2002 to win the governor's race, is term-limited and cannot seek reelection.

In 2008, Rasmussen Reports projected nationally that Barack Obama would defeat John McCain by a 52% to 46% margin. Obama won 53% to 46%. Four years earlier, Rasmussen Reports had projected the national vote totals for both George W. Bush and John Kerry within half-a-percentage-point.

In Georgia, Rasmussen Reports polled on two races during the 2008 campaign. In the race for president, Rasmussen polling showed McCain defeating Obama 52% to 47%, and McCain won 52% to 47%. In the 2008 Georgia Senate race, Rasmussen polling showed Saxby Chambliss leading Jim Martin 50% to 46% in the general election. Chambliss won 50% to 47%.

In the 2006 governor’s race, Rasmussen polling showed Perdue beating Mark Taylor 57% to 32%. Perdue won 58% to 38%.

In the 2004 presidential race, Rasmussen polling in Georgia showed George W. Bush defeating John Kerry by 15 points, 54% to 39%. Bush won by 17, 58% to 41%. In the 2004 Senate race, Rasmussen polling just before Election Day showed Johnny Isakson leading Denise Majette 54% to 42%. Isakson won 58% to 40%.

See all Rasmussen Reports 2008 state results for president, Senate and governor. See 2006 results for Senate and governor. See 2004 state results for president.

Rasmussen Reports also has released recent polls on the 2010 governor's races in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado,  Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland,   Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,   Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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