Kati Hobbs (eft) and Kari Lake/Facebook
By Torrence Dunham | KTAR
The race for the governor’s office in Arizona is starting to heat up, with recent polling finding that Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs are early front-runners for their respective parties.
A survey conducted by OH Predictive Insights early last month of registered voters in the state found 63% of Arizona Democrats have favorable opinions of Hobbs, while 60% of Republicans have favorable opinions of Lake.
Lake, a former Valley TV anchor, holds a lead over former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon (51%) and Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee (49%) in the Republican field.
Less than half of GOP voters had formed an opinion on Karrin Taylor Robson and Steve Gaynor. Blake Masters had yet to announce his candidacy when the survey was conducted and was not included in the questions.
“It turns out Kari Lake’s decades of being on local television, Matt Salmon’s decades of experience in Arizona politics, and Kimberly Yee’s status as a current statewide officeholder have been major benefits to their name ID,” OHPI Data Analyst Jacob Joss said in a press release.
Hobbs, the state’s secretary of state, is followed in Democratic favorability by former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez (44%) and Arizona Rep. Aaron Lieberman (41%).
The general election is shaping up to be a tight race. Hobbs leads the way with favorable opinions from 40% of all registered voters, according to the poll, followed by Lake at 39%, Yee at 32% and Salmon at 31%.
