EXCLUSIVE — Blake Masters, who lost his Senate bid in Arizona last cycle and is running to represent the state’s 8th Congressional District, is tied with a candidate backed by former President Donald Trump in a crowded primary for the deep-red Arizona House seat, according to an internal polling memo commissioned by Masters’s campaign.
The poll, first shared with the Washington Examiner, shows Masters and Republican Abe Hamadeh, last year’s unsuccessful attorney general nominee, both with 24% of support from likely Republican primary voters in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ).
The other candidates registered in the single digits. Former Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned from the seat in 2017 after he made unwanted advances toward female staffers about being a surrogate for him and his wife, has 9%. State House Speaker Ben Toma, who was endorsed by Lesko, comes in at 3%. Political newcomer Isiah Gallegos is at 3%, while state Sen. Anthony Kern is at 1%.
AZ-8 RPV Memo.docx by Washington Examiner
About 35% of respondents were undecided. Arizona’s filing deadline is in April, and the primary is in August.
The poll, conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates at the request of Masters’s campaign, found Masters is known to more than 90% of Republican primary voters in the district. Voters also had a 47% favorable opinion of him, compared to the 38% Hamadeh received.
Trump endorsed both Hamadeh and Masters in their unsuccessful campaigns last cycle, but Hamadeh has Trump’s endorsement for this congressional race.
In a later question, 28% of respondents said they would support Hamadeh, knowing he was endorsed by Trump. Once voters are reminded that Trump endorsed Masters in his Senate race last year, Masters received a slight lead at 31%.
“While Hamadeh may be banking on President Trump’s endorsement to overcome the
deficiencies he faces against Blake Masters, the data below shows that as a dead-end,” the memo said. “When [Republican primary voters] are reminded that Hamadeh is endorsed by President Trump now, but that Masters was endorsed by President Trump when he ran for Senate, the impact of that information largely cancels each other out. In fact, that ballot goes from a tie to a slight 3-point lead for Masters.”
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The survey included 400 likely Republican primary voters and was conducted Jan. 25-28 via phone calls and text messages. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
The Washington Examiner reached out to both Masters’s and Hamadeh’s campaigns for comment.
