Peach Pundit has the results from the straw poll at the Union County GOP BBQ today, and there were several things I found interesting about it.
First, let’s talk about the Governor race:
The most striking thing is that one of the men many pundits don’t give a chance in hell of winning this race – SWGA’s Austin Scott – got within three votes of a man that claims to be the “frontrunner” of this race – John Oxendine. Does this say really good things about Scott, really bad things about Ox, or some combination? I say C, some combination. Union County was just off the path of Scott’s Walk of Georgia, and it wouldn’t be surprising if many there heard of him in the Dahlonega media. Second, it shows that Ox is continuing to lose steam, despite his campaign’s propaganda.
Next, in Nathan Deal’s own Congressional district, which he has served for more than a decade and a half, he only pulled 34% in this poll. That shows a glaring sign of weakness to me – particularly when the three South GA candidates combined for 30% of the vote in this county that sits on the GA-TN line. That said, Deal still pulled exactly double his nearest competitor, and Karen Handel, Eric Johnson, Ox, and Scott were all within 10 votes of each other.
Switching gears to some other races, there were several write-ins for Lt Gov, and while Casey Cagle is the only one who claims to be running at this point (though State Senator David Shafer also still has his paperwork active), there were six candidates who got at least one write in vote, among them Shafer, Johnson, and Herman Cain. Clearly, there are some in the GOP who flat out refuse to vote for Cagle, and this could present problems either for him or the GOP down the road.
Similarly, in the US Senate race, while Isakson is the only announced candidate for the GOP so far, there were again six people who recieved at least one write in vote, among them my friend Ben Brandon, a member of the State GOP Executive Committee, Congressman Paul Broun, State Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, and Jeremy Jones, a candidate for the 9th District US House seat Deal is vacating. Again, this indicates that clearly there are those within the GOP that absolutely refuse to vote for Isakson right now, and this may or may not come back to haunt the GOP down the road.
In the Secretary of State race, 210 votes were cast and Doug MacGinnitie got 124 of them – nearly 60%. Not exactly an absolute blow out, but Brian Kemp clearly has some work to do if he wants to be the GOP nominee in this race.
The Attorney General race was much closer – 87 votes for Sam Olens, 73 votes for recently entered Max Wood – and a combined 8 votes for 3 write in candidates, 5 for Robert Highsmith, 1 for Ed Lindsey, 2 for David Ralson.
Incumbent Kathy Cox won the State Superintendent race with 85 votes, but her challengers Richard Woods and Roger Hines weren’t that far behind, with 63 and 51 votes respectively – meaning that Cox’s enemies outnumber her friends in these results. Not good for a sitting incumbent.
The Agriculture Commissioner race was an absolute rout, 171 votes for Gary Black to 35 for Darwin Carter. Of course, this could be simple name recognition – almost no one has ever heard of Carter, and even I wouldn’t have had I not been actively tracking statewide races. Clearly, Carter has his work cut out for him if he wants to possibly be taken seriously.
In the last race of interest to us here in SWGA, Gerry Purcell got nearly 3x the votes of his nearest competitor. He got 112 to Seth Harp’s 39. Third place goes to Stephen Northington (who I am scheduled to be interviewing in about a week and a half) with 19 votes, followed by State Rep Tom Knox with 12, State Senator Ralph Hudgens with 10, John Fuchko with 9, Peachtree City Mayor Harold Logsdon with 7, and most recent entry Maria Sheffield with a single vote. Though Knox’s entry was seen as the General Assembly’s message that they weren’t satisfied with Harp and Hudgens, it seems that Purcell is now the true front runner in this race – but again, it is still very early and a lot can happen.
Its no surprise to see Oxendine lose his appeal to the voters of Georgia . With his name recognition, campaign machine and financial backing from Georgias inurance industry , one would assume he should be soaring in the polls.Instead hes starting to sink like the Titantic. I think the good voters in Georgia know a wolf in sheeps clothing when they see one. Oxendines clearly a puppet for the insurance lobby ,as was proven with his recently having to return over one hundred thousand dollars of questionable campaign contributions from Georgia insurance companies . As for the other candidates, I think Austin Scott is the most ready and capable to lead our state. The poll was a clear indication many others are starting to realize so as well. And lets not forget Kyle Constables poll conducted recently. Austin slam dunked the rest of the candidates. After reading about Jeffs walk with Austin on his 1000 mile walk around Georgia, I decided to join the walk as well and walked the last few miles of the walk which ended at the state capital.Austin and I talked for miles. I soon realized Austin understood the challenges we face as a state and nation , and is truly focused on working for the safety and best interests of Georgias families.I could barely move the next day from all the walking,but it was worth the experiance.I now know how you felt Jeff! And thanks to Austin Scott for letting this voter discuss the things which were important to me and my family.
Furthermore, it should be noted that Rep. Scott was not even present at the event in Blairsville. He caught the Ox without even being present!
Jeff,
Lovin your blog and all the info you post. I have got to give a shot out for Ray McBerry. I have heard him and he is the “Man” for the job! Any statistics on him?
None that really look good. He has a very large and devoted fan base, but then again President Ron Paul could say the same thing. Oh wait…
That said, I’ve met his campaign manager and I’ve talked to McBerry a few times via FB and twitter, and he seems to be a genuinely nice guy. I even like quite a bit of what he says – but he’s got enough crazy in him that I can’t seriously consider him. (abortion, voting machines, and a couple of other issues)