Tuesday, June 10, 2008

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Georgia incumbent Saxby Chambliss continues to maintain double-digit leads over his three Democratic challengers, reinforcing Republican hopes that this is one Senate seat not at risk in an otherwise difficult election year.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Georgia voters finds Chambliss ahead of Dale Cardwell 52% to 37%, Vernon Jones 56% to 33% and Jim Martin 52% to 36%. These numbers have held relatively steady for the past two months (see last month’s report).

Chambliss was an upset winner over incumbent Democratic Sen. Max Cleland in 2002, besting him 53% to 46%.

Chambliss' favorability ratings dropped slightly to 57%, down four points from the previous month. Those who regard him Very Favorably, however, held steady at 22%, while those who view him Very Unfavorably dropped slightly,from 15% last month to 12% now.

Among Democrats, Cardwell continues to have the highest favorability ratings at with 34%. Martin and Jones rate 31% and 30% respectively. All of the Democrats continue to fall below 10% in the very favorable category--Cardwell and Jones at 7% and Martin with 6%.

Jones continues to have the highest unfavorability ratings among the Democratic hopefuls, with 25% viewing him very unfavorably and another 27% somewhat unfavorably. Sixteen percent of voters view Cardwell very unfavorably and 24% somewhat unfavorably, with Martin getting 15% and 30% respectively in the same categories.

For the second month in a row, Gov. Sonny Perdue's job performance drew excellent and good reviews from half of the state's voters (50%), an increase of 1% from May, with only 17% again rating him poor.

While Chambliss continues to hold his own in Georgia, Democrats are looking to pick up several Republican Senate seats this November. At least ten Republican Senate seats are potentially in play for Democrats including seats in Alaska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Virginia, and Kentucky. So far, just two Democratic incumbents are polling below 50%--Mary Landrieu in Louisiana and Frank Lautenberg in New Jersey.

Rasmussen Markets data shows the Chambliss is heavily favored to win re-election. Currently, expectations for a GOP Senate victory in Georgia are at %. These figures are updated on a 24/7 basis by market participants. It costs nothing to join and share your opinion.

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