Blake Masters thinks independents will back him over Sen. Mark Kelly

PHOENIX – Blake Masters, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Arizona, said Wednesday he thinks the key independent bloc will support him in his effort to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly despite recent polling showing otherwise.

Poll results published last week by Phoenix research firm OH Predictive Insights showed the Democratic incumbent with a 12-percentage point overall lead against Masters.

The gap was even larger for independents, who comprise one-third of the state’s electorate. Among voters who aren’t registered to a party, 43% favored Kelly, 28% Masters and 10% Libertarian Marc Victor, with 19% still undecided.

“When independents learn about Mark Kelly’s voting record — he pretends to be independent but actually he votes in lockstep for Joe Biden’s failed agenda — well, that’s pretty much all they need to know to come over to our side and vote Republican for a change,” Masters told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.

“So, I think we’re going to continue to peel away, and ultimately I think most independents will break our way in November.”

Kelly has been leading every poll tracked by RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight.com for use in their polling averages.

The RealClearPolitics average had Kelly with a 5.4-point lead over Masters as of Wednesday. FiveThirtyEight.com showed Kelly up by an average of 7.4 points and gave the Democrat an 83-in-100 chance of being reelected.

“A lot of the polls, I think, are designed to manufacture this narrative that, ‘Oh, Blake’s too far down. He can’t win,’” said Masters, a venture capitalist and political newcomer.

“No, it’s pretty tight, It’s a 2- or 3-point race.”

Early voting for the Nov. 8 general election in Arizona starts Oct. 12, with Oct. 11 the registration deadline.

Follow @kstonezone