It's a horse race down to the wire.

Karen Handel is either leading Nathan Deal or tied with him in the runoff for the Republican nomination for Georgia governor, according to two new polls. In short, this race between Handel, former Georgia secretary of state, and Deal, former congressman, is too close to call.

A poll taken Aug. 3-5 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. for 13 daily newspapers showed Handel with 47 percent and Deal with 42 percent while 11 percent of the 625 likely voters surveyed were undecided.

A poll last Thursday night (Aug. 5) by InsiderAdvantage/WSB-TV found the candidates were statistically tied at 46 percent with eight percent of the 514 registered likely voters still undecided.

CEO Matt Towery of Insider/Advantage said he believed the race would be decided in the final 48 hours before the polls open Tuesday. He said the results suggested voters in Deal's home turf of northeastern Georgia will generate the second-highest turnout behind metro Atlanta where Handel is strong. Towery also noted a "highly unusual set of circumstances" in which male voters could uncharacteristically turn out at a rate level with or exceeding female voters, possibly the result of Handel stressing her gender and conducting a fiercely tough campaign.

Both candidates have been throwing negative ad bombs, but there could be a risk in too much of that stuff. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer quoted a voter who decided to switch to Deal a few days after choosing Handel in the Mason-Dixon poll. The voter, Greg Rodgers, 49, of Pine Mountain said: "I just don't like the negative campaign Handel has been running."

Of course, it's anecdotal, and there's been plenty of negative stuff thrown at Handel by the Deal camp. Maybe there also are Deal voters that switched to Handel.

This race probably will come down to which candidate can get more support from voters who chose other candidates in the primary, particularly former state Sen. Eric Johnson and state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. In the Mason-Dixon poll, Deal got 48 percent of those voters, but will they turn out for him?

Will Handel get another big boost from today's scheduled appearance by Sarah Palin? And how much effect will Mike Huckabee's Sunday appearance with Deal help him?

Less than 50 percent of the voters that cast ballots in the primary last month are expected to return to the polls in the runoff, in the judgment of managing director Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon. Of course, the runoff will be decided by which candidate gets his/her voters back to the polls and wins most of the supporters of the also-rans.

Cobb voters need to turn out in large numbers not only for the governor's race but to give Sam Olens a huge home-county advantage in his bid for state attorney general in the GOP runoff with Preston Smith.

Likewise, voters in northeast Cobb have a choice to make for District 3 commissioner between JoAnn Birrell and Earl Stine.

Vote Tuesday!

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