Poll shows first look at key Fulton County races

ATLANTA - If the Fulton County District Attorney race were held today, incumbent Fani Willis would likely cruise to victory over her Democratic challenger. That is according to a recent poll of likely Fulton County voters.

That same poll also showed the Fulton County clerk's race may end up in a runoff.

This is the first poll released on many of these high-profile races.

Fulton County District Attorney race

It appears the Nathan Wade controversy has not affected Democratic support for incumbent Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The poll results indicate Fani Willis is still in favor among likely Democratic voters. She has garnered a commanding 79% in contrast to second-time challenger, Christian Wise Smith, who sits at 9%. Both want the job as top prosecutor in Georgia's largest county.

Democratic strategist and Georgia Gang political panelist Tharon Johnson says there are no surprises here.

"If you look at this case against former President Donald Trump, it is received not just national attention but international attention. She is probably other than the New York DA, the most talked about DA in the world right now. How does that correlate to Fulton County voters? When you look at this poll, it is a very name-specific, name-recognition poll. And everyone knows her name," Johnson said.

The poll surveyed 1,000 likely Democratic voters for the primary election on May 21, with a 3% margin of error. It was conducted by veteran non-partisan political consultant Fred Hicks via text message from April 20-23.

"This is the first survey of the upcoming election," the owner of Hicks Election Group exclaimed.

Fulton County Clerk race

The poll also looked at the Fulton County clerk's race between incumbent Che Alexander and veteran politician Keisha Waites, who resigned her city council seat mid-stream to run for clerk.

Alexander is polling at 29% while her well-known challenger is at 22%, with a third candidate, Rodney Fowler, polling in the single digits.

Johnson says this race appears to be heading to a runoff.

"Che Alexander is the incumbent. She's doing a good job. She's been at the clerk's office for a very long time. She was the hand-picked successor of her predecessor in this job. But to be fair, Alexander is running against a long-time elected official. Whether it was the state house or city council, that is Keisha Waites. She's been on the ballot a lot," Johnson replied.

Fulton County Commissioner race

The new poll shows Fulton County incumbent District 4 Commissioner Natalie Hall is leading her opponent, attorney Mo Ivory, but not by much.

Johnson says Hall has a challenge in overcoming the sexual harassment almost million-dollar complaint won by her former chief of staff, Calvin Brock, but he points out it is still early.

"Natalie Hall has been on the Fulton County Commission for a while. She's out in the community raising money, but Mo Ivory, while this is her first time on the ballot for this seat, she is a known organizer and recently worked on Stacy Abrams campaign run for governor," Johnson explained.

The Georgia Gang panelist says it is still early, and all three of these races could go either way.