FILE – This Oct. 15, 2014, file photo shows Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Michelle Nunn, center, and her daughter Elizabeth, greeting voters at Fulton County’s Adamsville Recreation Center in Atlanta. You won’t hear Nunn refer to a “war on women” when talking about her Republican opponent, David Perdue, in the upcoming Georgia Senate race. But the idea, and the hope it will motivate the state’s female voters, is at the core of her campaign strategy. From supporting an equal pay bill to attacking Perdue over a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against a company he led as CEO, Nunn is trying to woo women who voted Republican in recent years but might be open to a Democrat. (AP Photo/David Tulis, File)ATLANTA (AP) – Voters in Georgia appeared troubled by the economy and considered how their ballots might affect control of the U.S. Senate as they decided a close race between Republican David Perdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn. Those were some of the preliminary findings from exit polling conducted for The Associated Press and television networks:
GLOOMY ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: Georgia has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Just a third of voters polled said the country was moving in the right direction. Eight out of ten said they were worried about the direction of the economy in the coming year. About four in 10 said they were “very” worried. About half of voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country.
SENATE CONTROL: Voters were considering how ballots cast in Georgia would affect whether Republicans or Democrats control the closely divided Senate. Better than 90 percent of voters said they considered party control of the Senate important, and around three-quarters considered it very important. Democrats hope to keep a slim majority in the Senate. Republicans have held a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, using that power to thwart initiatives favored by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The GOP was hoping to win enough seats to take a majority in the Senate.
MINIMUM WAGE: More than half of voters said they would support raising the minimum wage.
HEALTH CARE: Roughly half of Georgia voters polled said Obama’s health care overhaul went too far. Around a quarter said it did not go far enough, and less than a fifth said it was about right.