A new poll out shows that Nathan Deal is leading Roy Barnes in the race for Governor, despite recent revelation of Deal’s financial troubles. The numbers also show that a runoff is possible in the race.

The new Rasmussen Poll shows Nathan Deal with 45 percent and Roy Barnes with 39 percent of support from likely voters. For Deal that’s a drop from last month when he polled at 51 percent. Libertarian John Monds got 5 percent. There are still some undecided voters and some who say they want an entirely new candidate. UGA political Scientist Charles Bullock since no candidate polls above 50 percent and if Libertarians keep gaining Georgians could be back at the polls around Thanksgiving.

“If this was a vote today, I guess there would have to be a runoff,” Bullock says. “Now 6 percent of voters say they prefer another candidate. I can’t imagine so many people writing someone in.”

Bullock says many of those voters may just sit out the election. Two years ago Libertarian voters threw Georgia’s U.S. Senate race into a runoff.

Tags: Nathan Deal, Roy Barnes, Georgia gubernatorial race 2010, Election Polls