SWGA Politics

Another Weekend, Another Straw Poll

Saturday, Oglethorpe County was the site of the latest battle for the week’s bragging rights. Amidst what was apparently some pretty heavy rain, the Oglethorpe and surrounding county GOPs got together and hosted a Low Country Boil. Food and politics, always a good combination!

Peach Pundit has the results, so here’s some basic analysis on each of the statewide races:

GAGOV: Handel had a strong showing in an area most would think would be more pro-Deal, since it is just outside his 9th District base. Instead, she beat Deal by 20 votes. This time, the second tier was Ox and Johnson, with Ox getting nearly twice the votes Johnson did – understandable, considering Ox’s home isn’t very far away in Gwinnett, while Johnson’s base is across the State in Savannah. In the third tier, we have Scott, Chapman, and McBerry. This is also disappointing for Scott, as it shows signs of weakness in his Walk strategy, since Ogelthorpe was one of the counties he was actually walking through.

The Secretary of State race was not surprising that Brian Kemp thoroughly trounced Doug McGinnitie, as this was just outside Kemp’s home in Athens.

Darwin Carter is still showing a severe lack of name recognition at the very least, as he also once again gets trounced by Gary Black.

The Attorney General race is still showing to be the tightest race in the GOP field, with both Sam Olens and Max Wood being neck and neck once again.

For State Superintendent of Schools, Kathy Cox was actually able to beat both of her competitors this time, garnering 112 votes to their combined 83. (SWGA’s Richard woods had 51, ATL’s Roger Hines had 32.)

The Insurance Commissioner race once again went to Gerry Purcell – who beat State Senator Ralph Hudgens in Hudgens’ own Senate district! In this one, the top two were Purcell and Hudgens, 79 votes to 56. The next tier was State Senator Seth Harp and Stephen Northington – who I am scheduled to interview tomorrow – 27 votes to 25. Finally, the bottom tier was Maria Sheffield (who only last week officially announced her entrance into the race), Peachtree City Mayor Harold Logsdon, and State Rep Tom Knox – who was said to have entered the race due to a lack of fundraising by the other two General Assembly candidates. They received 15, 11, and 6 votes, respectively. In other words, Purcell continues to look strong, while the General Assembly’s “chosen ones” continue to underwhelm. Even The Ox’s Chosen Successor, Sheffield, continues to disappoint.