Kari Lake, Katie Hobbs expand leads in Arizona governor’s race poll

PHOENIX – Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake, front-runners in the race for Arizona governor for 2022, have added to their numbers, a new voters’ poll showed Tuesday.

OH Predictive Insights’ survey showed former TV anchor Lake led the GOP primary with 28%, followed by former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon with 11%.

On the Democratic side, Arizona Secretary of State Hobbs led with 42% followed by former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez at 8%.

In a September poll, Lake came in at 25% and Hobbs at 40%.

“Kari Lake is a household name and Katie Hobbs … has already won a statewide race and the election audit really propelled her onto the national stage,” political consultant Emily Ryan of Copper State Consulting told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News after the latest poll was released.

“Name ID is what leads to more money, which helps them hold a commanding lead,” she said. “No corporation asks their lobbyist: ‘Find me a long shot to spend money on.'”

The poll was taken before a jury awarded an Arizona legislative staffer $2.75 million over her 2015 firing as policy adviser to state Senate Democrats, who were led by Hobbs, at the time.

Talonya Adams cited race and gender discrimination in her lawsuit.

Hobbs has been on the hot seat since the Nov. 9 verdict, “which could very well affect her numbers,” OH Predictive Insights chief researcher Mike Noble said.

The online opt-in poll of 713 voters was conducted Nov. 1-8 and has a margin of error of 3.7%.

Of the survey respondents, 252 were Republicans, 232 were independents and 229 were Democrats.

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