MACON, Ga. — Rep. Sanford Bishop’s campaign released a survey Thursday that showed the Georgia Democrat with a double-digit lead, one day after Republican Mike Keown circulated a two-week-old poll that showed the race to be a dead heat.

Bishop led Keown 50 percent to 40 percent with 10 percent undecided, according to the survey done for the Congressman’s campaign. The poll of 500 likely voters was conducted by the D.C.-based firm Lester & Associates on Oct. 7-10. It had a 3.9-point margin of error.

Keown’s poll, taken Sept. 27 and 28, showed the race statistically tied with Bishop at 47 percent and the GOP state Representative at 46 percent. It was in the field as Bishop was making national headlines after it was revealed that several Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarships had gone to his family members. It was also taken just before the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a six-figure advertising buy against Keown.

Bishop has since said he was not involved in awarding the scholarship money, and he repaid the money that went to his family members. The National Republican Congressional Committee has yet to run ads against Bishop, though it is scheduled to do so in the final weeks of the campaign.

In the 2nd district, in southwestern Georgia, black voters make up nearly 48 percent of the population, and Bishop’s re-election will likely depend on whether black voters will turn out next month. Interestingly, Keown’s poll modeled a slightly larger black turnout than Bishop’s poll (40 percent compared with 39 percent).

“This poll shows that the voters have recognized that Mike Keown is trying to take this campaign to an all time low to try and hide his shameful record from the public,” Bishop said in a statement Thursday. “And the voters know his election would weaken the ability of our district to have our needs and concerns effectively addressed in Congress.”