Election 2010: Arizona Republican Primary for Senate

Arizona GOP Primary for Senate: McCain 47%, Hayworth 36%, Deakin 7%

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Longtime Senator John McCain continues to lead Arizona’s Republican Primary by double digits but remains in the same narrow range of support he’s drawn since January.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters in the state Voters shows McCain picking up 47% support, while challenger J.D.Hayworth earns the vote from 36%. Navy veteran and Tea Party activist Jim Deakin picks up seven percent (7%) support. One percent (1%) like another candidate in the race, and eight percent (8%) are undecided.

Any incumbent who earns less 50% support is considered potentially vulnerable, and McCain has been hovering around that mark all year. Since January, McCain’s support has fallen in a narrow 47% to 53% range. Hayworth's support has generally been in the low 40s.

Last month, McCain led Hayworth 52% to 40%.

The 2008 Republican presidential nominee cannot be comforted by the fact that his level of support in early primary polling is similar to the numbers for another veteran senator, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Specter, ultimately defeated in the state's Democratic Primary by Joe Sestak, led in just about all early polling but could never get much above the 50% level of support.

Hayworth has criticized McCain for being soft on illegal immigration, an issue that resonates with Arizona voters, but McCain has been a strong supporter of the state’s new immigration law despite criticism of it by President Obama and others.

The survey of 707 Likely Republican Primary Voters in Arizona was conducted on June 16, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Arizona’s GOP voters favor the new state law, while only eight percent are opposed to it.

McCain and Hayworth are closely divided among those voters who favor the law, but the incumbent leads by nearly 50 points among those who oppose it.

While McCain is well ahead of his challengers among women GOP voters, he is virtually tied with Hayworth among men.

The two men are also tied among conservative voters.

McCain is viewed Very Favorably by 30% of GOP voters in Arizona and Very Unfavorably by 11%.

Hayworth’s marks are 24% Very Favorable and 24% Very Unfavorable.

For Deakin, Very Favorables are five percent (5%) and Very Unfavorables (5%). But while McCain and Hayworth are well-known to Arizona voters, 46% don't know enough about Deakin to express any kind of opinion about him.

At this point in the campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Incumbent Jan Brewer now earns 61% support in Arizona’s Republican Primary race for governor, marking her second big monthly gain in a row.

Ten percent (10%) of Arizona Republicans approve of the job Obama is doing as president, same as last month. Ninety percent (90%) disapprove.

In 2008, Rasmussen Reports projected nationally that Obama would defeat McCain by a 52% to 46% margin. Obama won 53% to 46%. Four years earlier, Rasmussen Reports projected the national vote totals for both George W. Bush and John Kerry within half-a-percentage-point.

In Arizona during the 2008 campaign, Rasmussen Reports polling showed McCain winning the state by a 51% to 45% margin. He defeated Obama 54% to 45%. In the 2006 Arizona governor’s race, Rasmussen polling showed Janet Napolitano defeating Len Munsil 58% to 37%. Napolitano won 63% to 35%. In the 2006 race for U.S. Senate, Rasmussen polling showed Jon Kyl leading Jim Pederson by nine, 51% to 42%. Kyl won by nine, 53% to 44%.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... for_senate