Two new polls on the Georgia governor’s race provide some encouraging news for former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, yet the Republican primary remains a wide-open battle.

On the Democratic side, it’s a one-man race, the polls showed.

The latest InsiderAdvantage/WSB poll shows Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine continuing to hold a modest lead in the GOP field, but with nearly 40 percent of voters polled expressing no preference for any candidate.

Oxendine was at 23 percent of GOP voters polled, down from previous polls. He’s followed by former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of Gainesville with 15 percent.

Karen Handel was next at 14 percent, followed by Eric Johnson at 5 percent, Jeff Chapman and Ray McBerry at 2 percent each and Otis Putnam with less than 1 percent.

But 39 percent of those polled committed to no candidate.

The survey’s margin for error is plus or minus 5 percent.

Among Democrats, former Gov. Roy Barnes holds a wide lead with 64 percent of voters favoring him over Dubose Porter (8 percent), Thurbert Baker (6 percent), Carl Camon (5 percent), David Poythress and Randall Mangham (1 percent each) and Bill Bolton (less than 1 percent). There were 16 percent who expressed no preference.

Meanwhile, a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows that the three top Republican candidates would beat Barnes in a potential fall matchup.

The telephone survey of likely voters in Georgia finds Deal in the best position against, Barnes, leading with 47 percent of the vote to Barnes’ 40 percent.

His lead was 46 percent to 39 percent a month ago.

Thirteen percent of those polled have a very favorable opinion of Deal, while 11 percent view him very unfavorably.

Oxendine and Handel lead Barnes by similar margins, Oxendine 43 percent to 39 percent and Handel 42 percent to 39 percent. Both were in virtual ties with Barnes in April.

Barnes only leads one of the top Republicans, Johnson, 42 percent to 38 percent.

Barnes ran strongest against all the Republicans in March but has been unable to rise above the low 40s in any of the matchups, the poll showed.

This statewide telephone survey of 500 likely Georgia voters was conducted on May 20 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.

In other poll findings:

• Sixty-three percent of Georgia voters favor repeal of the recently passed national health care bill, while 32 percent are opposed, identical to findings nationally.
• Barnes, who served as Georgia’s governor from 1999 to 2003, is viewed very favorably by 24 percent of voters and very unfavorably by 25 percent.
• Oxendine is seen very favorably by 17 percent, very unfavorably by 12 percent. Eleven percent view Handel very favorably, 12 percent very unfavorably.
• Barnes and Oxendine remain the best-known of the candidates.
• Fifty-five percent of Georgia voters favor an immigration law like Arizona’s for their own state, comparable to views nationally. Twenty-seven percent are opposed.