POLL: AZ Sen. Jeff Flake Trailing GOP Primary Challenger Kelli Ward By Double Digits

A New poll shows Arizona Senator Jeff Flake is in big trouble, in what might be the toughest political race of his career. AZ Highground reports Flake is trailing Kelli Ward by 14% .

AZ Highground reports:

A statewide Arizona survey of 400 likely Arizona 2018 General Election voters shows Republican incumbent Senator Jeff Flake fourteen points behind his primary Republican opponent Kelli Ward and eight points behind prospective Democratic opponent U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (D, AZ-9).

Q.        If the primary election for United States Senate were held today, would you vote for [Rotate] Jeff Flake or Kelli Ward?

28.2%   Jeff Flake
42.5%   Kelli Ward
5.1%     Some other candidate
24.2%   Don’t know, Refused

Q.        If the General Election for United States Senate were held today, would you vote for [Rotate] Jeff Flake or Kyrsten Sinema?

32.5%   Jeff Flake
40.5%   Kyrsten Sinema
27.0%   Don’t know, Refused

The Republican Primary Election sample was of 273 high efficacy Republican and PND/Independent voters and has a margin of error of ±5.93% .  The General Election sample of 400 high efficacy general election voters has a margin of error of ±4.88% .

“While Election Day may still be more than a year away, Senator Jeff Flake’s campaign has a lot of work to do to persuade Republican primary voters that his form of principled Republican conservatism can trump the nativist populism that is fueling Republican voters’ antipathy towards Washington insiders.  These same Republicans still give the President a 74% approval rating in Arizona,” said Chuck Coughlin, President & CEO of HighGround Public Affairs, which conducted the poll.

Pollster Nate Silver recently issued a major warning to Flake over his unpopularity.

FiveThirtyEight reports:

Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona is unpopular — really unpopular. According to a poll about all 100 senators released Tuesday by Morning Consult, just 37 percent of registered voters in Arizona approve of their junior senator, compared with 45 percent who disapprove. 

[…]

The polling firm [Morning Consult] has consistently had Flake’s approval ratings at lower levels than those of many other senators. Other surveys have also generally found Flake to have a relatively low approval rating. Flake even commented on one of the surveys in 2013, saying: “Given the public’s dim view of Congress in general, that probably puts me somewhere just below pond scum.”

[…]

Flake struggled at the ballot box in his one Senate race. During his 2012 bid for this open seat, Flake beat Democrat Richard Carmona by just 3 points. His showing was the worst for a Republican Senate candidate in Arizona since 1988.

It certainly doesn’t help that President Trump isn’t a fan of Flake.

“Phoenix crowd last night was amazing – a packed house. I love the Great State of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!”, Tweeted Trump today.

 

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