AUM Poll: Britt Has Big Lead on Brooks in GOP Runoff for U.S. Senate
A new poll from Auburn University at Montgomery’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration shows Katie Britt leading U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks by double digits ahead of the June 21 Republican runoff for U.S. Senate.
The poll found that 50% of those asked intend to vote for Britt, 30% for Brooks, and 20% are not sure.
The two candidates are vying for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democratic nominee Will Boyd in the November 8 general election.
Nearly 53% of AUM Poll respondents indicated a favorable opinion of Britt compared to 32% for Brooks, said David Hughes, associate professor of political science and director of the AUM Poll.
“The division among voters is in line with the Alabama Republican Party being traditionally divided into factions consisting of a business wing, which is more (sub)urban, wealthy and better educated, and a grassroots wing, which is more rural, evangelical and socially conservative,” he said.
Britt, the former chief of staff to Sen. Shelby and past president of the Business Council of Alabama, largely appeals to the more moderate business wing of the Republican Party compared to Mo Brooks, whose base of voters is predominantly composed of hardline grassroots interests, Hughes said.
AUM is the only state university engaged in public opinion polling of political candidates and public policy. Launched in 2020, the AUM Poll is not affiliated with any political or media entity.
The latest AUM Poll was conducted between June 8 and June 15. It consisted of 400 likely voters for the Republican runoff election set for June 21. It has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points. Poll respondents were recruited through an online platform and were weighted according to age, gender, race, education, income, and geographic region to reflect a representative sample of Alabama Republican voters.
