By Matthew Winston

A newly released survey conducted by UGA’s Survey Research Center suggests that Guy Millner, Mark Taylor and Paul Coverdell lead in their respective election contests, although a significant portion of the electorate remains undecided.
The survey, the Fall 1998 Georgia Poll, was conducted among a random sample of self-reported registered likely voters. The Survey Research Center polls Georgians about current issues twice each year.
The phone survey, conducted Oct. 11-18, shows Republican gubernatorial candidate Guy Millner leading his Democratic opponent Roy Barnes with 38.6 percent of voters indicating they will vote for Millner and 31.7 percent indicating they will vote for Barnes. More than 27 percent of those surveyed indicated they have yet to choose a gubernatorial candidate. Democrats are significantly more likely to indicate intent to vote for Barnes while Republicans are significantly more likely to indicate intent to vote for Millner. Among independents, 42.5 percent indicate intent to vote for Millner compared to 26.6 percent for Barnes.
Non-whites and women are significantly more likely to report intent to vote for Barnes while whites and men are significantly more likely to report intent to vote for Millner.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Democrat Mark Taylor leads Republican Mitch Skandalakis 33.4 percent to 24.8 percent, with more than 41 percent of voters still undecided.
According to the survey, Republican Paul Coverdell has a 45.8 percent to 28.5 percent lead over Democrat Michael Coles in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, with 25.7 percent undecided. Coverdell appears to have strong support among Republicans (69.7 percent) and independents (48 percent), while Coles has strong support from Democrats (50.4 percent). White voters and male voters also are significantly more likely to report intent to vote for Coverdell.
The Survey Research Center also gathered information on Georgians’ attitudes concerning issues involving President Clinton. Despite generally high approval ratings for the president’s performance, a majority of Georgians feel that Clinton should resign or be impeached. The survey found that 58.3 percent of adult Georgians approved or strongly approved of Clinton’s performance as president; 40 percent disapproved or strongly disapproved of his performance, while 1.7 percent responded “don’t know” to the question.
There was a high correlation between Clinton’s approval ratings and self-reported party identification of those surveyed; 83.8 percent of Democrats expressed approval for the president’s performance, while 74.5 percent of Republicans expressed disapproval. Among independents, attitudes toward Clinton’s performance were nearly even, with 52.6 percent expressing approval and 47.4 percent expressing disapproval.
When asked about the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, more than half of Georgians surveyed felt either that Congress should begin impeachment hearings (22.4 percent) or that Clinton should resign (29.1 percent).
Surprisingly, more than 40 percent felt that Congress should take no action concerning the Clinton-Lewinsky matter. Democrats were significantly more likely to report that Congress should take no action (68.5 percent), while 44.1 percent of Republicans and 35.9 percent of independents felt Clinton should resign. A little more than 38 percent of Republicans and 26.2 percent of independents felt Congress should begin impeachment hearings. Only 14 percent of Democrats felt Congress should begin impeachment hearings, and 17.5 percent of Democrats felt Clinton should resign.
Non-whites and females were significantly more likely to say that no action should be taken concerning the Clinton affair.
A majority of Georgians (50.1 percent) felt independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr had overstepped the authority of his office in handling his investigation of President Clinton. Democrats were significantly more likely to feel this way than were Republicans, while independents were more evenly divided (51.4 percent felt Starr acted appropriately and 48.6 percent said he overstepped authority).
Non-whites and females were significantly more likely to believe Starr overstepped the authority of his office (77.8 percent of non-whites, 60.1 percent of women) than were whites (48.8 percent) and males (47.6 percent).
The survey also found that a plurality of Georgians felt Democrats would do a better job in solving the nation’s problems in the future, although 18.5 percent felt neither party or some other party would do a better job in the future in Washington. More than 12 percent of those surveyed did not know which party would do a better job in the future.