United Liberty
AZ Senate: Jeff Flake leads GOP rivals, Democratic opponents
Wed, 02/22/2012 - 2:30pm | posted by Jason Pye
While Republicans in Arizona are trying to decide between the candidates running for the presidential nomination, the race for the GOP nomination to replace Sen. Jon Kyl is less than suspenseful. According to a new survey from Public Policy Polling, Rep. Jeff Flake holds an overwhelming lead over his rivals:
- Jeff Flake: 56%
- Wil Cardon: 7%
- Bryan Hackbarth: 5%
- Others: 2%
- Not sure: 31%
Flake, perhaps of the most fiscally conservative members of the House, also leads his prospective Democratic Party opponents, Richard Carmona and Don Bivens, in head-to-head matchups — by the same margins.
Jeff Flake v. Richard Carmona
- Flake: 46%
- Carmona: 35%
- Undecided: 19%
Jeff Flake v. Don Bivens
- Flake: 46%
- Bivens: 35%
- Undecided: 19%
Despite a disappointing fundraising haul last quarter, Flake is still the favorite to win in the fall. But a word of caution to Republicans, Arizona is a state that President Barack Obama’s campaign plans to actively compete in. Continuing to drag out the presidential primary could hurt Flake come fall as money is still going elsewhere.
I greatly respect Jeff Flake, and I’m glad to see him doing so well in the primary. I am a little surprised, though. A few months ago, there was a hit piece on one of the major AZ Tea Party web sites slamming Flake for not going along with one of the budget deals. What the author skipped over was that Flake had condemned the compromise because it did not include any real cuts. In other words, he adhered more closely to Tea Party principles than the self proclaimed Tea Partiers. That’s typical of the Tea Party’s opposition to Flake: uninformed, disingenuous, nutty, or some combination of all three. Good to see the nuts aren’t winning.
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