Arizona’s Jim Lamon Claims ‘Frontrunner’ Status in Crowded GOP Primary

A new poll commissioned by businessman Jim Lamon’s campaign shows him leading other candidates in the crowded race to be the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

The poll found him at 32 percent, with a double-digit lead over the state’s Republican attorney general Mark Brnovich, who was at 20 percent. The only other candidate to register significant support in the poll was Blake Masters, who was supported by 9 percent of respondents.

The poll from the Remington Research Group found all three contenders, Lamon, Brnovich, and Masters, to be popular with Arizona Republicans. Lamon is viewed favorably by 42 percent and unfavorably by 12 percent, the biggest margin of the three. Brnovich had the highest unfavorable rating at 23 percent, but is also known best by Arizona voters given his current role of attorney general.

The Lamon campaign’s commissioned poll gives him a bigger lead than other recent surveys of the race but tracks with trends found by other pollsters. A poll released by Data Orbital last week similarly found that Lamon had leapfrogged Brnovich and that Masters is losing support as the race drags on. A third poll from HighGround found Lamon and Brnovich tied, with Masters trailing.

The candidates are vying for a chance to run against incumbent Democratic senator Mark Kelly, who is viewed as one of the most vulnerable candidates in the election cycle. President Joe Biden is currently underwater with voters in the state, forcing Kelly to break with the White House as he positions himself for reelection. Kelly won his seat by just over 2 percent in 2020.

The poll commissioned by Lamon’s campaign surveyed 1,126 likely Republican voters on April 5 and 6 last week, and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.