Should Kari Lake worry about polls in GOP race for Arizona governor?

PHOENIX – Kari Lake should be worried about the rise of Karrin Taylor Robson in the race to be the Republican nominee for governor in Arizona, especially if Matt Salmon drops out, a local political expert said Tuesday.

New polling reportedly shows that Taylor Robson, a businesswoman and former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, has closed Lake’s GOP primary advantage to within the statistical margin of error.

“If I were her [Lake], I’d be concerned,” Chuck Coughlin, CEO and president of Phoenix-based political consulting firm HighGround Inc., told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.

However, Coughlin said the presence of Salmon, who’s running a distant third, could hurt Taylor Robson’s chances of overtaking the Donald Trump-endorsed front-runner.

“It’s a mathematical equation. … If Matt’s taking away 10-12% of a vote that ought to go to, that could go to Karrin, it becomes very difficult,” Coughlin said.

Salmon, a former U.S. congressman, has failed to gain traction ahead of the Aug. 2 primary election because voters are “tired of the same old, same old,” Coughlin said. Taylor Robson, meanwhile, has explored a “broader palette of issues,” according to the consultant.

Lake, a former TV anchor, has fully embraced her role as a Trump acolyte, something Coughlin doesn’t think will change even as the race tightens.

“She’s doubled down,” he said. “There is no other path for her to victory other than that narrative path of the most populist right-wing candidate that she’s narrating, and she continues to do that.”

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