A new poll in the Arizona gubernatorial race shows Trump-endorsed Kari Lake still far ahead of other Republican candidates in the race, and the only Republican beating the Democratic frontrunner, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, in the general election. Arizona-based pollster Data Orbital found that Lake has 36.5% of the support of Republicans, with her nearest competitor Matt Salmon at 13%.
“President Trump knows how to pick winners, and new polling proves the President was correct, once again,” Lake said in a statement. She told the Arizona Sun Times, “This is a huge poll. These fools have been saying I can’t win in the general election, when this poll shows they can’t win. First poll released that shows general election matchups.”
The other two major candidates on the GOP side are Karrin Taylor-Robson with 8.7% and Steve Gaynor with 8%. Another 32.5% are undecided. This is striking, considering both Gaynor and Robson have thrown in millions of their own money. Robson raised as much money as Lake and then added another $2 million from her own fortune. Gaynor has more than three times as much money in the race as Lake, all coming from his own coffers. While Salmon isn’t self-funded, he has significant name recognition from serving in Congress and running for governor previously.
In a general election matchup, Lake beats Hobbs 42.7% to 41.4%, with the rest undecided. Salmon loses to Hobbs 39.3% to 40.7%. Gaynor loses 39.1% to 41% and Robson loses 37.1% to 41.6%. Data Orbital CEO George Khalaf observed, “While there has been chatter among insiders surrounding general election viability for Kari Lake, it is clear voters do not share those same concerns.”
This isn’t the first time Lake polled ahead of all the other Republican candidates combined, and her support hasn’t dropped since that August poll, where she came in at 37.4%. Lake has gained support by championing issues that other candidates ignored or did very little to address. She led a rally demanding the resignation of the former school board president of the Scottsdale Unified School District after it became public that he compiled a dossier on parents who disagreed with him about COVID-19 restrictions and Critical Race Theory. She led a protest at a Boeing plant against its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Lake presented an innovative plan to fix the border in January, that would go around the federal government by creating an interstate compact with other states. She divulged her unique and comprehensive solution to end homelessness a few weeks ago.
Due to Lake’s 30 years as a broadcast journalist, she has shown a savvy side dealing with media interviews, often turning the interviews around and demanding questions of the reporters when they attempt to ambush her. Her interview with a 60 Minutes Australia journalist this month went viral. She created a stir on Monday with her first TV ad, which aired during mainstream news TV shows, calling out their bias and telling viewers to turn their TVs off.
If Hobbs defeats her primary opponents, she faces a tough race against Lake due to a multitude of scandals. A jury found that her former staffer at the Arizona Legislature, Talonya Adams, was wrongly fired due to racism, and awarded $2.5 million. Hobbs admitted after the verdict that she “participated in furthering systemic racism.” Adams does not believe Hobbs is “fit to serve” as governor because of the racist and sexist way she treated her. Hobbs has a lengthy history of calling people on the right racists.
Hobbs refused to defend Arizona’s election integrity laws prohibiting ballot harvesting and voting in the wrong precinct, forcing Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to intervene. He won a victory upholding the laws at the Supreme Court in Brnovich v. DNC. She filed 12 bar complaints against Brnovich and his staff attorneys due to disagreements over election integrity and they were all dismissed.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at the Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kari Lake (Right)” by Kari Lake. Photo “Steve Gaynor (Center)” by Steve Gaynor. Photo “Karrin Taylor Robson (Left)” by Karrin Taylor Robson. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
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