Poll: Arizonans prefer US Senate pick in mold of McCain, not Trump
Aug 31, 2018, 11:05 AM | Updated: 1:09 pm
(AP Photos)
(AP Photos)
PHOENIX — A clear majority of Arizonans want Gov. Doug Ducey to appoint a replacement for John McCain in the mold of the longtime U.S. senator, and doing so would help Ducey’s re-election chances, according to a new poll.
Sixty-one percent of Arizona voters wanted Ducey to pick a McCain-like senator to fill the seat, according to a Public Polling Policy poll conducted this week.
“They don’t want another Trump clone,” Jim Williams, a polling analyst for the firm, told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “They would prefer to see more of a statesman in the McCain style.”
Only 37 percent of those polled wanted Ducey’s pick to be more in the mold of President Donald Trump, who famously did not get along with Arizona’s six-term Republican senator.
RELATED STORIES
McCain died Saturday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. Under state law, the governor will select a GOP successor to serve until the next general election in 2020. Then voters will choose somebody to complete McCain’s term, which runs until 2022.
Ducey has said he wouldn’t make his decision until sometime after McCain’s burial on Sunday.
While the sitting governor easily won the GOP nomination in Tuesday’s state primary, he’s expected to face a strong challenge from Democratic nominee David Garcia in November’s general election.
Ducey’s choice for McCain’s successor could play a role in that race.
According to the poll, 42 percent of voters said they’d be more likely to vote for Ducey if he made a McCain-like pick, while 35 percent said they’s be less likely.
Those trends were reversed with a Trump-like pick, with 50 percent of voters saying they’d be less likely and 35 percent more likely to vote for Ducey in that scenario.
The polling firm interviewed 617 Arizona voters Tuesday and Wednesday on behalf of Democracy Partners, and the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
Williams said 42 percent of those surveyed were Republicans, 38 percent Democrats and 20 percent independents.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Mark Carlson contributed to this report.
