The 2010 Democratic Primary race for governor in Georgia is still Roy Barnes’ to lose, but State Attorney General Thurbert Baker has moved 10 points closer over the last two months.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Democratic Primary voters in the state finds the former governor ahead of Baker by 24 points – 43% to 19%. But in August, the gap between the two men was even larger – 42% to nine percent (9%).

The remaining candidates all still remain in single digits. House Minority Leader Dubose Porter and David Poythress, a former secretary of state in Georgia and unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1998, each pick up four percent (4%) support. Carl Camon, the mayor of Ray City, is the choice of three percent (3%) of primary voters.

Seven percent (7%) like some other candidate, and 21% are undecided. Those numbers were 10% and 30% respectively in August.

John Oxendine, the state fire and insurance commissioner, remains far ahead among Republican Primary voters in the contest for his party’s gubernatorial nomination.

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Barnes served one term as governor before being defeated by Republican Sonny Perdue in 2002 and has remained well ahead of the other Democratic hopefuls since Rasmussen Reports first began surveying this mix of candidates in June. Barnes had 48% support at that time.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of Democratic Primary voters have a very favorable opinion of Barnes, and seven percent (7%) view him very unfavorably. Baker is seen very favorably by 14% and very unfavorably by three percent (3%).

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.

Porter, Poythress and Camon all continue to have very favorables and very unfavorables in low single digits, in large part because a substantial number of primary voters don’t know enough about them to venture even a soft opinion. Roughly three-out-of-five primary voters are not sure what they think of any of the three candidates.

By comparison, just 17% venture no opinion of Barnes. Baker, despite his statewide office, has name-recognition problems at this stage of the campaign as well: 32% have no opinion of him.

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