Blake Masters, Mark Kelly in statistical dead heat in Arizona Senate race

Trump-backed Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters is in a neck and neck race with incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a recent poll revealed.

Conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 4 among 1,164 registered voters, a CBS/YouGov survey found Kelly with 51% support, a narrow lead over Masters's 48%. That 3% difference is within the poll's +/- 3.8% margin of error, meaning the race is a statistical tie.

Masters triumphed over a number of Republican rivals, including Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, to earn the party's nomination. Former President Donald Trump's endorsement helped him to soar ahead of the competition, but may carry less weight in the general election in a state he lost in 2020.

Though Arizona voters largely supported the retention of legal abortion, a position aligned with Kelly, the senator seems unlikely to benefit substantially from the Supreme Court's overturning the landmark abortion precedent set in Roe v. Wade earlier this year as abortion issues did not feature among the issues voters most prioritized.

The economy came in first with 81% of respondents naming it a "very important issue," followed by inflation (78%), immigration (65%), crime (63%), election issues (61%), and gun policy (59%).

The survey also found Arizona gubernatorial candidates Kari Lake, R, and Katie Hobbs, D, tied at 49% support.