Arizona Democratic senator Mark Kelly, husband to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and a former astronaut, won his first Senate race in November 2020—a special election to serve out the final two years of the late John McCain’s term.
Kelly defeated Republican Martha McSally by 2.4 points in a state that Biden carried by only 0.3 points. He has kept his head down and has served as a generic Democrat during his first year in the Senate, and voters appear to be souring on him.
According to a new poll by OH Predictive Insights, “the freshman Democratic Senator’s favorable numbers are underwater by seven percentage points – he is viewed favorably by 41% of Arizona voters, and unfavorably by 48%.”
In September, the same pollster found that Kelly had “overall net positive favorability rating of +4%. Forty-seven percent of voters hold a favorable view of the freshman Senator, while 43% view him unfavorably.”
The new poll shows Kelly polling 40 percent to 39 percent when matched up against a generic Republican.
In the GOP primary, meanwhile, “Attorney General Mark Brnovich continues to lead the pack with 27% of Arizona Republicans’ vote, followed by Major General Michael McGuire’s 12%. Businessman Blake Masters pulls in 9%, and the rest of the field is registering at 5% or lower. Forty-six percent are undecided.”