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A Democrat hasn’t held a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona since 1995, but a recent poll suggests that the seat getting vacated by retiring Senator Jon Kyl is within reach for Arizona lefties.
According to the pollsters at the left-leaning Public Policy Polling, Republican Congressman Jeff Flake — the presumed GOP nominee for the seat — leads Democrat Richard Carmona, a former U.S. surgeon general under President George W. Bush, in a hypothetical matchup by only four percentage points, (40-36 percent) which is within the polls margin of error.
See our report on the poll here. See the entire poll here.
According to PPP Director Tom Jensen, the Dems have a legitimate shot at taking the seat, despite Flake’s overwhelming popularity and name recognition.
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“With the Senate landscape in 2012 offering Democrats few opportunities for offense these numbers suggest Arizona may provide the party’s 3rd best chance of picking up a GOP held seat next year, behind only Massachusetts and Nevada,” Jensen writes in a statement accompanying in the poll.
As our colleague Stephen Lemons points out, Flake is the Republican “golden boy,” and is even popular amongst Arizona Democrats.
The idea that Democrats could swipe the seat from Flake seems like a stretch, but we want to know what you think: can Democrats take Kyl’s Senate seat?
Cast your vote below.
