News
BREAKING NEWS: Graf, Giffords hold big leads in congressional primary race, poll shows
By Jonathan Clark/Wick News Service
TUCSON - A new voter preference poll by the Arizona Range News and Wick Communications shows Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Randy Graf solidly leading their respective fields in the race to fill U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe's Congressional District 8 seat.
The survey, which polled 300 likely Democratic and 300 likely Republican primary voters throughout the 8th district, found 44.7 percent of Democrats choosing Giffords, a former state senator and representative, over seven other contenders for their party's nomination.
Longtime TV news anchor Patty Weiss trailed Giffords at 26.7 percent, and Jeff Latas, a retired Air Force pilot, followed at 5.7 percent.
Slightly more than 20 percent of Democrats said they were undecided.
On the Republican side, Graf, a former golf pro from Green Valley, led a field of five with 35.7 percent of votes to 13.3 percent for Steve Huffman, a Tucson Realtor endorsed by Kolbe. Former state party chair Mike Hellon ran third at 10.3 percent.
The largest segment of Republican respondents -- 39 percent -- said they still were undecided.
When asked about issues they wanted their representative to address, the border was far and away the principal concern for Republicans, while Democrats named the Iraq war. Just more than 60 percent of Republicans said the border was the priority issue, as compared to only 15.7 percent of Democrats.
Meanwhile, nearly 40 percent of Democrats said Iraq should be of primary concern to their representative. Sixteen percent of Republicans said the same.
In terms of party loyalty, 21.3 percent of Republicans would consider voting for another party if their candidate loses in the Sept. 12 primary, while 15.7 percent of Democrats responded similarly.
Outside of the three leaders in each party’s race, no other candidate polled higher than 1.3 percent.
The poll was conducted by telephone on Aug. 12 and Aug. 14-17 and has a margin of error of 4 percent. Respondents were randomly selected voters living in Congressional District 8 who voted in both the 2002 and 2004 primary elections.
Kolbe, a Republican who has served 22 consecutive years in the House of Representatives, announced last fall that he would not seek re-election in 2006.
The full story will run in the Arizona Range News on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
The survey, which polled 300 likely Democratic and 300 likely Republican primary voters throughout the 8th district, found 44.7 percent of Democrats choosing Giffords, a former state senator and representative, over seven other contenders for their party's nomination.
Longtime TV news anchor Patty Weiss trailed Giffords at 26.7 percent, and Jeff Latas, a retired Air Force pilot, followed at 5.7 percent.
Slightly more than 20 percent of Democrats said they were undecided.
On the Republican side, Graf, a former golf pro from Green Valley, led a field of five with 35.7 percent of votes to 13.3 percent for Steve Huffman, a Tucson Realtor endorsed by Kolbe. Former state party chair Mike Hellon ran third at 10.3 percent.
The largest segment of Republican respondents -- 39 percent -- said they still were undecided.
When asked about issues they wanted their representative to address, the border was far and away the principal concern for Republicans, while Democrats named the Iraq war. Just more than 60 percent of Republicans said the border was the priority issue, as compared to only 15.7 percent of Democrats.
Meanwhile, nearly 40 percent of Democrats said Iraq should be of primary concern to their representative. Sixteen percent of Republicans said the same.
In terms of party loyalty, 21.3 percent of Republicans would consider voting for another party if their candidate loses in the Sept. 12 primary, while 15.7 percent of Democrats responded similarly.
Outside of the three leaders in each party’s race, no other candidate polled higher than 1.3 percent.
The poll was conducted by telephone on Aug. 12 and Aug. 14-17 and has a margin of error of 4 percent. Respondents were randomly selected voters living in Congressional District 8 who voted in both the 2002 and 2004 primary elections.
Kolbe, a Republican who has served 22 consecutive years in the House of Representatives, announced last fall that he would not seek re-election in 2006.
The full story will run in the Arizona Range News on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
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