Walker leads Warnock in recent Georgia Senate race poll

Georgia GOP Senate candidate and former NFL star Herschel Walker is leading incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a likely General Election showdown in November, according to a new poll. 

Warnock won a special election in 2021 to replace retiring GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson and is now competing to serve a full term.

He is polling at 45%, compared to 49% for Walker, with 6% of voters polled still undecided, according to the poll conducted by Emerson College in conjunction with The Hill newspaper.

The poll's margin of error is 3%.

Walker, who played at the University of Georgia, is expected to win the GOP primary, then face Warnock. He also has won the backing of former President Donald Trump and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. 

The Georgia midterm is projected to be one of the most competitive races in the cycle, considering Joe Biden's victory there marked the first time in 28 years that a Democratic presidential nominee carried the state. 

And last year, Warnock was part of a Democrat duo that took two Senate seats from Republicans – in a once solid Red state whose demographics, particularly with the growth of metropolitan Atlanta, have shifted. 

Voter turnout is likely be higher compared to previous, so-called "off-year" elections – considering the Georgia ticket also includes a governor's race of national interest with Democrat Stacey Abrams expected to face incumbent GOP Gov. Brian Kemp or primary challenger  former Sen. David Perdue.

Though Biden is not on the ballot, his low approval numbers are also expected to be key factor among voters.