In Arizona Senate race, Democrat incumbent Sen. Kelly in dead heat with generic GOP challenger, poll

The U.S. Senate race in Arizona this year is a tossup, according to a new poll.

The Arizona Public Opinion Pulse poll, conducted by OH Predictive Insights, show registered voters have a split opinion of incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly.

He has a 50% approval rating, including 49% approval rating from self-described independents. Meanwhile, 39% disapprove of Kelly.

Is that good enough to win reelection?

The poll shows that remains to be seen.

The pollster found that Kelly is in a dead heat of a race this year. Arizona residents are torn on who they will support on the November ballot. While 40% say they'll support Kelly, 39% say they'll vote for the Republican nominee.

That's the case even though it's unclear who the Republican nominee will be yet. There is no overwhelming frontrunner in the race, and the primary will not take place until Aug. 2.

Kelly is more popular than President Joe Biden in Arizona. The poll found that he had a 42% approval rating while 53% of voters disapproved of him in the state.

The question becomes whether being in the same party as Biden hurt Kelly's chances of winning reelection, irrespective of how voters feel about him.

"As the primaries narrow in, whether or not the blame is being placed in the right direction, the down-ticket effect this will have on the Democratic Party is continuing to look encouraging for the Republican party since we last saw in March," Mike Noble, OHPI Chief of Research, said of the so-called generic poll.

The poll was conducted from May 9-16 among 938 Arizona registered voters with a 3.3% margin of error.