Arizona GOP Candidate Takes Lead for 1st Time Over Dem Incumbent: Poll
Republican Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters took the lead over Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly for the first time Friday in an Emerson College poll.
Masters was favored by 48 percent of respondents, taking a one-point lead over Kelly after months of trailing the incumbent, the poll found.
Masters has been slowly climbing in popularity and was tied with Kelly in other recent polls, though Kelly has a one-point lead in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
About 1 percent of voters were undecided in the Emerson poll, and Masters’ new lead is within the margin of error of 3 percentage points, meaning the race is effectively tied.
The poll was conducted from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 and surveyed 1,000 very likely voters.
Democratic incumbents have struggled in the lead-up to the midterm elections on Tuesday amid widespread concern about inflation, crime and the economy. Independent voters favored Kelly at 50 percent to 42 percent, the poll found.
“Democratic candidates for Senate and Governor face strong headwinds in Arizona. They have an unpopular Democratic president, a Republican statewide electorate, and the economy as a top of mind issue for many voters,” Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, told Fox News.
“Right now, they are offsetting these disadvantages by carrying independents and attracting more Republican voters than their opponents are gaining among Democrats. This all adds up to two very close contests.”
Marc Victor, the Libertarian Party nominee for the open U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, dropped out of the race Monday and threw his support behind Masters.
Masters also has received endorsements from former President Donald Trump and former Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Masters is widely viewed as a leader of the “new right,” or national conservative movement, given his emphasis on social issues, immigration and crime.
He’s been critical of the Republican establishment, particularly the support many Republicans have given to multibillion-dollar aid packages to Ukraine.
Masters’ criticism of the Republican establishment came amid an apparent rift between him and the GOP: The Senatorial Republican Super PAC, which is affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, pulled millions of dollars in ad buys for Masters in Arizona in August.
McConnell later was involved in a September fundraising effort for Masters, and Masters declined to comment on the rumored dispute in an exclusive September interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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A version of this article appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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