Recent polling commissioned by the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) has some good news for legislative Republicans in Arizona. The survey, which was conducted by Cygnal, found that President Joe Biden’s bad numbers are also impacting voter attitudes towards Democratic candidates down the ballot, producing an improving outlook for Republican candidates.
According to the poll of Arizona voters, President Biden is deeply disliked by voters (37% favorable / 60% unfavorable), and Republicans lead on the generic ballot (48% / 46%). “Half of voters feel financially worse off than four years ago, with 74% of voters who said they’re worse off indicating a shift towards Republican candidates as a result.”
The poll also had good news for Republicans on the top issues impacting voters – inflation/rising prices, and immigration and border security.
32% of voters listed inflation and rising prices as their top issue and on those issues voters trust Republicans more by a margin of 50-35%.
An impressive 28% of voters listed immigration and border security as their top issue – not a surprise for a border state like Arizona. On those issues voters trust Republicans more by a margin of 55-31%.
The poll also reported a large GOP advantage on public safety issues – 54-32%.
Most Democrat candidates are focused on left-of-center topics like abortion rights and “protecting democracy”, but those issues rate well below other top issues, with abortion rights top of mind for 16% of voters and fighting threats to democracy at just 11%. Nor do those issues cut entirely for Democrats. According to Cygnal, Democrats hold just a 2-point advantage on the question of which party can best be trusted to uphold voting rights.
“Arizonans clearly trust state Republicans to lead on issues that matter the most like inflation and immigration,” said RSLC spokesperson Stephanie Rivera. “Over the past four years state Republicans have served as the last line of defense against Joe Biden and his disastrous Administration, and it is critical that we remind voters between now and November that Republicans know how to deliver strong legislative success in Phoenix.”
Earlier this year, the RSLC named Arizona as a top target for 2024 where the committee will try and defend the House and Senate.
That outside support will make a big difference in the fight over the Legislature this November, according to GOP consultant Constantin Querard, who ran the legislative campaign committees in previous cycles, and has worked with the RSLC and similar groups.
“These national organizations being precious resources to the fight, which matters all the more with Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs dedicating the first two years of her administration to capturing legislative majorities.” said Querard, who added “Candidate quality still matters a lot, but Republicans are trusted on the most important issues, and Biden and Hobbs are locked into these fairly radical open-border, anti-police, high-inflation positions, so the elements are there for the GOP to have success this November.”