Republican Kari Lake faces a likability challenge in her bid for the U.S. Senate in Arizona.
By a 46% to 38% margin, registered voters have an unfavorable view of Ms. Lake, according to a new survey from Noble Predictive Insights that shows she is the sole current or likely contender with a net negative favorability.
Ms. Lake ran a Trump-inspired, take-no-prisoners gubernatorial campaign that riveted the base of the Republican Party but ended in disappointment after she scared away voters looking for a less radioactive leader.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who switched her party affiliation from Democrat to independent late last year, is viewed favorably by 45% of registered voters, and unfavorably by 35%.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, ranks the highest on the net favorability chart, with more than half of registered voters giving him the seal of approval.
Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is running against Ms. Lake for the GOP nomination, has a net favorability of plus-10 percentage points.
Despite the favorability questions, Ms. Lake is a rockstar in the eyes of the grassroots and is the clear favorite to win the Republican nomination.
Meanwhile, in a hypothetical three-way general election race, Mr. Gallego leads the pack.
He is the top choice of 39% of voters, followed by Ms. Lake at 33% and Ms. Sinema at 29%.
Ms. Sinema has yet to say whether she will seek reelection, but news reports indicate she is preparing to run and making the case to donors that there is a path to victory.
The new poll provided a glimpse of Ms. Sinema’s coalition.
She is the top pick of independent voters, 49%, and pulls more support from Republicans, 23%, than Democrats, 12%.
Conducted from Oct. 25–31, the survey was composed of 1,010 registered voters in Arizona and had a margin of error of 3.1%.
