A new poll funded by the pro-Hudson Alabama Conservatives PAC shows that the Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff between former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson and U.S. Representative Barry Moore, R-Alabama, couldn’t be closer.
APR obtained a copy of the survey performed by Remington Research Group, which shows Hudson and Moore virtually tied ahead of the June 16 election, with 41 percent of 722 likely primary runoff voters supporting Hudson compared to 40 percent for Moore. The 1 percent gap between the candidates falls well within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
While 18 percent of respondents initially stated that they remain undecided ahead of the runoff, 25 percent indicated they would vote for Moore if forced to choose, while only 19 percent said they would support Hudson, leaving 56 percent firmly undecided.
Demographically, the poll shows Hudson leading Moore among conservative women, 43 percent to 37 percent, while Moore held a slight edge among male respondents, 44 percent to 39 percent.
Those who identified as “very conservative” were more likely to support Moore, 47 percent to 38 percent, while Hudson led among those who considered themselves “somewhat conservative,” 43 percent to 33 percent, or “moderate,” 55 percent to 26 percent.
In terms of geography, the poll shows Hudson with a lead in the Birmingham media market, the largest in the state, while Moore has an edge in other markets, including Mobile-Pensacola, Huntsville-Decatur and Montgomery-Selma.
The poll also paints President Donald Trump’s official endorsement of Moore as rather inconsequential. While 84 percent of respondents indicated a favorable opinion of Trump, those numbers did not directly translate into support for Moore despite him being Trump’s preferred candidate.
If the survey is accurate, it depicts an extremely competitive race for the GOP nomination with a slim margin between the two candidates and plenty of undecided voters still up for grabs. However, the PAC-funded poll also comes just days after Hudson narrowly finished second over Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall in the May 19 primary, winning just 25.6 percent of the vote. Moore, meanwhile, won a convincing first-place finish with 39.2 percent.
Just how close the race between Hudson and Moore really is will be determined on June 16.
