The margins are small in the race for Alabama’s seat in the U.S Senate.

In a survey of likely Republican voters conducted from March 15-17, 29.2% said they would vote for Mike Durant if the election was held today, while 27.1% chose Katie Britt and 23.3% chose Mo Brooks.

Just 16.6% reported as "undecided."

The poll was conducted by Wisemen Consulting, an independent research company, on behalf of 1819 News. The margin of error is 3.4%.

It was also conducted before former President Donald Trump pulled his endorsement for Brooks.

Respondents answered the question, "If the Republican Primary for U.S. Senate were held today, who would you be most likely to vote for?"

The three candidates are battling for the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat of Richard Shelby, who has held that office since 1987.

With the top three candidates separated by just six percentage points, the race is far from over.

“First of all, it confirms what I think all of us who have been watching this race [were thinking] since the moment Senator Shelby announced he was retiring,'' said chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party and former State Representative Paul DeMarco. "It didn’t matter how many candidates got into the race, we all thought it was going to be determined with a runoff. So, this polling further confirms the status of this race, which is the Republican nominee will not be determined on May 24. It will be decided in June in a runoff.

"I think what this polling shows is that it’s a very fluid race. Any three of these candidates could end up in a runoff in June. There is no question that from the very beginning, Mo Brooks has been seen as the candidate with the most name ID, and he had the benefit of the endorsement of Donald Trump. There is no question that Katie Britt has probably ran the best retail campaign of all the candidates. It appears that the barrage of television ads and radio that Mike Durant has been able to run since he entered the race have been a tremendous benefit for him and if you believe this poll, has really made a difference with his name ID and where he is in this race.”

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The 1819 News poll, conducted by Wiseman Consulting of phone respondents from across the state from March 15-March 17, asked the question:

"If the Republican Primary for U.S. Senate were held today, who would you be most likely to vote for?"

Katie Britt                       27.10%

Mo Brooks                      23.30%

Karla Dupriest                 3.40%

Mike Durant                   29.20%

Jake Schafer                     0.40%

Undecided                      16.60%

Durant is the political outsider of the three, with no previous experience in public office. He served a 22-year career in the Army as an aviator and is known for being a prisoner of war after his Blackhawk helicopter was shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia. After his release from captivity and retirement from the armed forces, he began a successful business venture, Huntsville-based Pinnacle Solutions Inc.

The Durant campaign declined to comment on the 1819 News poll, stating that they have not publicly commented on any polls regarding the election.

“We haven't commented on any stories related to other polls so far in the race, and we want to continue that same policy here as well,” said Scott Stone with the Durant campaign.

Britt, a graduate of the University of Alabama, has served under Richard Shelby, who occupies the seat she is now seeking. Britt served as his Deputy Press Secretary, Press Secretary, Campaign Manager, and Chief of Staff.

“Katie has been tirelessly running a grassroots campaign and is the only candidate to have visited all 67 counties already," said Sean Ross, speaking on behalf of the Britt campaign. "While her opponents have received most of their funding from outside of Alabama, Katie is proud that 87% of the funds she has raised came from Alabamians. Her strong and continually growing momentum is simply evidence that her message is resonating in every corner of our state, and that’s why the original 'Never Trump' club in D.C. is desperately spending millions to falsely attack her.

"Katie is heading towards victory in the May 24 Republican Primary because Alabamians know that she is the best candidate to protect our Christian conservative values, advance the America First agenda, hold President Biden accountable for his weakness, and fight for hardworking Alabama families and small businesses. Alabamians don’t want a do-nothing career politician, and they don’t want a flip-flopper who was featured in a Lincoln Project ad attacking President Trump in 2020.”

Mo Brooks, who is currently serving as a member of the U.S. Congress, has won 14 total elections for public office. Brooks has seen his numbers slip in recent polls, taken from various outlets. Brooks has heavily relied on his endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Since the beginning of the race, rumors have spread concerning Trump’s confidence in Brooks. According to an interview that Trump conducted with the Washington Examiner, the former President expressed disappointment with Brooks because he failed to echo Trump’s accusations of widespread election fraud in the 2020 election.

"If it meant what he sounded like, I would have no problem changing [my endorsement] because when you endorse somebody, you endorse somebody based on principle,” Trump told the Washington Examiner.  “If he changed that principle, I would have no problem doing that.”

According to Brooks, Trump’s disappointment was due to poll results. Brooks also claimed that the former president enjoys promoting uncertainty as a negotiating tactic.

“I talked to him last week,” Brooks said. “He is disappointed we are not doing better in the polls vis-a-vis Katie Britt and Mike Durant. I’m disappointed we’re not doing better too because we are coming under massive attack."

Brooks told 1819 News that the ever-changing nature of the polls does not concern him.

“The polls go up and down; that’s been my observation,” Brooks said. “Our challenge is to get the word out, and if the word gets out, we’ll win easily.”

Brooks told 1819 News that he plans to continue a grassroots campaign strategy, despite his opponent’s attack ads.

“We have been doing town halls all over the state,” Brooks said. “I do more retail or grassroots politicking, but it’s a challenge in the face of what will be tens of millions of dollars in attack ads that are bought. You can’t get away from them, and they are designed to deceive, I understand that. But you do the best you can. It’s up for the voters to think. If the voters think, then they will figure out how much Katie Britt’s team’s ads are lying.”

Other polls taken during roughly the same time frame show varying margins for each candidate. In a poll authorized by Alabama Daily News-Gray Television, 34.6% said they would vote for Durant if the election was held today, while 28.4% chose Britt and 16.1% chose Brooks. Just 14.1% remain undecided in that poll.

A poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates and paid for by the ForestPAC, the political arm of the Alabama Forestry Association, shows Durant and Britt in a virtual deadlock (33% to 32%, respectively) and Brooks trailing the pair by more than 14 points.

With less than two months to go in the primary campaign, and with such a small margin between the candidates, this race appears to remain very much up in the air.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.

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