NASHVILLE - Four major Democratic presidential contenders are facing an "uphill battle" at this point in Georgia's November general election against Republican President Donald Trump, according to a new poll.
The survey of 625 registered voters, conducted Dec. 19-23 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, shows Trump holding a 51%-44%, or seven-point, advantage over former Vice President Joe Biden, who is his closest opponent. Five percent said they were undecided.
Trump also led three other top Democrats, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts by 54%-40% and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont by 52%-42%, respectively. Ditto for Democrat Pete Buttigieg, over whom the president holds an early advantage - 52%-43%.
"Georgia looks pretty red right now," said Brad Coker, Mason-Dixon's CEO and managing director, noting "for the last three or four election cycles, the Democrats keep saying, 'Well, we're going to turn it blue.'"
Coker said "the numbers, at least right now, don't look like they're going to have any more luck turning Georgia blue come November."
The live-telephone survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Trump did well with white and rural voters, picking up 72% among white voters compared to 24% for Biden, for example. Eighty-five percent of black voters said they backed Biden while Trump picked up just 8% support.
Slight variations occurred in the matchups between Trump and Warren, Sanders and Buttigieg.
Another poll question showed Trump's job approval rating improving among Peach State voters: Fifty percent of survey respondents said they approved of Trump's job performance as president, while 46% said they disapproved. Just 4% said they were unsure.
The finding is an improvement over Mason-Dixon's 2018 survey two years ago. The February 2018 survey found views of Trump's job performance evenly split - 46% to 46%. Eight percent said at the time they were unsure.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 616-255-0550.