Special to The Beacon ATLANTA — AARP released new polling showing voters age 50 and older are poised to play the decisive role in Georgia’s closely watched Governor and Senate races.
AARP commissioned the bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward (R) and Impact Research (D) to conduct the survey of likely Georgia voters.
Conducted by the bipartisan team of Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research, the survey highlights the outsized influence of older voters in one of the nation’s premier battleground states.
In Georgia’s 2026 primary, voters age 50 and older accounted for 68 percent of all ballots cast. AARP’s new survey also found 88% of Georgia voters age 50+ rate themselves a “10” on a 10-point motivation-to-vote scale, compared with 62% of voters under 50, reinforcing that older voters remain highly engaged and are likely to determine the outcome of these competitive races.
“Voters age 50 and older will decide this November’s Georgia races,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer. “Candidates who speak directly to the issues these voters care about most — including rising prices, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and lowering health care costs — will have the greatest opportunity to earn their support.”
In a tight governor’s race, Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) leads Rick Jackson (R) 48% to 46%, within the margin of error. However, age is one of the key dividing lines in the race.
Jackson leads by 13 points among voters age 50 and older, driven by strong support from voters 65 and older, while Bottoms leads by 23 points among voters under 50.
In the race for Senate, Senator Jon Ossoff (D) holds a 52% to 43% lead over Rep. Mike Collins (R). Ossoff has a 30-point advantage among voters under 50, and a narrow lead among voters 50-64, although Collins has a sizable advantage among voters over 65 (24 points).
Women 50+ stand out as a notable toss-up, while Ossoff leads among swing voters 50+ by 23 points.
“One in eight voters over 50 are swing voters, making them one of the most influential voting blocs in this election,” said AARP Georgia State Director Vanessa Payne. “Georgians are focused on key issues affecting their daily lives — from protecting Social Security and Medicare to managing the rising cost of living. Candidates who understand those priorities will be best positioned to earn their votes.”
AARP’s polling found affordability is the top issue for voters 50+, followed by immigration and border security, and threats to democracy.
Among voters 50 and over:
• 48% say Social Security is or will be a major source of income for their household.
• 92% say that they are more likely to support a candidate who will make sure they’ll receive the Social Security they’ve earned through a lifetime of work.
• 87% say they would be more likely to support a candidate who would expand Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices to help lower prescription drug costs.
• 75% are concerned that expanding AI data centers will increase their electric utility bills, and 85% say policymakers should ensure residential utility customers don’t pay those costs.
This is the second poll in AARP’s 2026 battleground polling series, following the Ohio survey released in June. The firms interviewed 1,060 likely voters statewide.
The survey was done between July 13 and July 16, 2026. The interviews were conducted live via cell phone (40%) and landline (15%), as well as SMS-to-web (45%).
The sample was randomly drawn from the Georgia voter list. The margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level for the 1,060 statewide sample is ±3.0%.
View the full survey results at www.aarp.org/ga2026vot erpoll. Additional information about AARP’s 2026 battleground polling series is available at www.aarp.org/voterpolls2026 and aarp.org/GApoll.
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