Rep. Martha McSally, the Republican establishment favorite for the open U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, has widened her lead over her opponents ahead of next week’s GOP primary, according to a new survey.
McSally is 26 percentage points ahead of her closest rival, state Sen. Kelli Ward, after Data Orbital found almost a majority of likely voters support her. In comparison, only one in five voters back Ward, a pro-Trump candidate who is also vying for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was pardoned by the president for a contempt of court conviction, is further behind McSally. Just more than 15 percent of those polled told researchers they would cast a ballot for him.
While a small sliver of voters remain undecided, McSally’s advantage over her fellow Republicans has grown more than 16 percentage points since Data Orbital’s last poll results earlier in August.
The outcome may worry those in Ward and Arpaio’s respective camps since Data Orbital also found that almost 40 percent of respondents have voted early.
Data Orbital’s findings are in line with RealClearPolitics’ poll aggregator, which gives McSally an 8 percentage point berth.
Data Orbital surveyed 600 likely Republican primary election voters across Arizona via the telephone from Aug. 21 and Aug. 22. Its results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
