Richard Carmona, the former Bush-era Surgeon General and now Democratic candidate for Senate in Arizona, is making a strong run against Republican Rep. Jeff Flake.
Carmona has taken a lead, 45 percent to 43 percent, in a survey released Wednesday by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling. The survey of 595 likely voters was conducted Oct. 1-3, and has a 4 percent margin of error.
However, the pollster notes that Mitt Romney is leading President Obama, 52 percent to 41 percent: “Also Arizona voters would generally prefer that Republicans be in control of the Senate rather than the Democrats by a 50/40 spread. That Carmona leads anyway is a function of him being superior to Flake as a candidate, but that still leaves open the possibility that if Republicans can effectively nationalize the election Flake’s standing will improve.”
The PollTracker Average currently gives Carmona a narrow edge, 43.3 percent to 43 percent, with a fairly high undecided rate.