Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake is statistically tied with Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) in the first New Emerson College poll of the contest since the Arizona Supreme Court enacted a 19th-century law that bans abortion without exceptions for rape or incest.
The pollsters found Lake has the support of 43.1 percent of Arizonans, leaving her just behind Gallego, who polled at 45.3 percent. In the wake of the confirmation, Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) will not seek another term, and an additional 11.6 percent of respondents told pollsters they remain undecided.
With just 2.2 percentage points separating Lake from Gallego, neither candidate’s support exceeds the survey’s 3 percent margin of error, making the candidates statistically tied. The New Emerson College/The Hill poll of 1,000 registered voters in Arizona was conducted between April 25-29.
Lake replied to the poll in a post on the social media platform X.
“I’ve said from the beginning that the more Arizonans get to know [Gallego], the less they’ll like him,” Lake wrote. “Ruben has spent 7 million dollars trying to reinvent himself on TV & Arizonans are not buying it.”
The survey also found abortion to be only the third most important issue among voters.
A total of 27.9 percent of Arizona voters who were polled reported their top political issue is immigration, while 24.7 percent cited the economy as their key motivator.
About half as many voters, 12.4 percent, said abortion access is their top issue. An additional 8.2 percent reported housing affordability, while 7.4 percent said, “Threats to democracy” are their top concern.
Pollsters similarly found former President Donald Trump has the support of 52.3 percent of Arizona voters, with President Joe Biden behind by nearly five points at 47.7 percent.
When voters were given Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein and independent presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy and Cornel West as potential options, both Trump and Biden saw their share of the vote diminish.
According to the survey, Trump would win the five-man contest with 43.6 percent of the vote, trailed by Biden at 40.2 percent. Kennedy would receive 8.5 percent of the vote, while West would receive 0.9 percent and Stein 0.7 percent.
The latest polling for Lake and Gallego was revealed amid Republican advertisements that highlight Gallego’s failed marriage, as well as his alleged inaction at the southern border and support for Ukraine.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kari Lake” by The Kari Lake.
