Trump-endorsed Blake Masters leading Arizona GOP Senate primary race: poll

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters is leading the pack in the Arizona GOP primary race by a wide margin, with roughly 40 percent of likely voters backing the Trump-endorsed contender.

Masters, a venture capitalist, is ahead by 18 points, with the next Republican candidate, businessman Jim Lamon, earning 22 percent of the vote, according to the latest poll from Emerson College.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) has 14 percent of the vote and Michael McGuire, a retired major general, has 12 percent.

Nine percent of voters are undecided, but when asked who they are leaning toward, Masters is ahead of Lamon, 42 to 24 percent, according to the poll.

The winner of the GOP primary, which will be held on Tuesday, will face U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D), who first took office in 2020, in November.

Former President Trump endorsed Masters in June, calling the candidate a "great modern-day thinker" and "one of the most successful businessmen and investors in the Country."

“Arizona is a State where the 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, and a very thorough audit proved it,” Trump said at the time. “Blake knows that the ‘Crime of the Century’ took place, he will expose it and also, never let it happen again."

The 2020 election, which Trump continues to claim without evidence was stolen, is still a hot issue in Arizona, a state that had audited the election results in at least one county.

About 39 percent of voters in the latest poll say they are more likely to back a candidate who maintains the 2020 election was rigged, while 28 percent say they are less likely and 33 percent say it makes no difference.

Trump's endorsement of a candidate, meanwhile, is important for 42 percent of likely Arizona voters in the primary race, compared to 38 percent who say it makes no difference and 20 percent who say they are less likely to support a Trump-endorsed candidate.

Masters also won the support of billionaire Peter Thiel, who has provided crucial funding for his campaign.

The Emerson College poll was conducted from July 28 to July 30 among 600 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.