Governor’s Race in a Battleground State Is Tied, New Poll Shows

With the midterm elections one month away, several polls have emerged projecting the winners of some of the most high-profile races. A poll on Wednesday showed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, with a double-digit lead over his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist.

A separate poll released Wednesday showed that the governor’s race in a battleground state is currently tied.

A new poll from CBS News’ Battleground Tracker and YouGov published on Wednesday show that the Arizona governor’s race is tied between Republican Kari Lake, a former journalist endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat.

In the poll, Hobbs and Lake are tied with 49 percent support for each (via CBS):

Lake — who does not have the extra hurdle of running against an incumbent — is generally better liked than her Republican counterpart running for Senate. Lake trails Hobbs by nine points among Arizona registered voters on how she handles herself personally, but this is far better than the 20-point deficit Masters has against Kelly on this measure.

In the poll, 45 percent said they like how Lake handles herself personally. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they like the way Hobbs handles herself. The write-up explained that both Lake and Senate candidate Blake Masters is viewed as “extreme” by Democrats.

When asked whether each of the four statewide candidates’ positions were “mainstream” or “extreme,” @KariLake is viewed as extreme by slightly fewer Arizona voters than @bgmasters is - though both are more likely to be seen as extreme than their Democratic opponents. pic.twitter.com/aBIYXv4l3H
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) October 5, 2022

The poll found that abortion remains one of the top issues for Democrats, while Republican voters are more concerned with immigration and the economy.

Last month, Hobbs announced that she would not debate Lake ahead of the midterm elections. She said a debate with Lake would resort to "childish name calling," though Hobbs called Lake a "conspiracy theorist" in her announcement.

“Unfortunately, debating a conspiracy theorist like Kari Lake – whose entire campaign platform is to cause enormous chaos and make Arizona the subject of national ridicule – would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling. Arizonans deserve so much better than Kari Lake, and that’s why we’re confident Katie Hobbs will be elected our next governor. We must respectfully decline the invitation.”

This week, Townhall covered how Lake flipped the script on a reporter who pressed her on her pro-life position.

"Abortion is effectively banned in the state right now...is that something you support?" the reporter asked.

“I support saving as many lives as possible,” Lake replied. "My plan would be that every woman who walks into an abortion clinic know that there are options out there, they don't have to choose that [abortion],” adding that "there's families who would love to adopt a baby. Right now, the way it's been going, they go in and they only have one option.”

"Nobody tells them [pregnant mothers] that there's other options. We want to help our women — if they're afraid we want to help them. We want to give women healthcare and I want to help people," she added.

Lake then called out the reporters in the room for not questioning Hobbs on her pro-abortion extremism.

"Let me tell you where she [Hobbs] stands," Lake began.

"She supports abortion right up until birth and after birth. She supports, if a baby survives a botched abortion, that that baby die on a cold metal tray,” she explained, adding that "and none of you ever try to get her to talk about her stance. So get back to me after you do."

Lake stated that she wants to debate the abortion issue with Hobbs on Oct. 12.