Democrats hold lead in Arizona, North Carolina Senate races: poll

Democratic Senate candidates hold leads over GOP incumbents in Arizona and North Carolina, according to Fox News polls released Wednesday.

Arizona Senate candidate and former astronaut Mark Kelly, a Democrat, has a wide 17-point lead over Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), according to the poll. 

More than half of likely voters, 56 percent, said they would vote for Kelly, while just 39 percent said they would back McSally, based on the poll. McSally lost her 2018 bid for Senate to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), but was later appointed to fill a seat vacated after the death of Sen. John McCain (R).

In North Carolina, Democratic candidate Cal Cunningham leads Sen. Thom Tillis (R) by a slimmer 6 points, with 48 percent of likely voters saying they would vote for Cunningham and just 42 percent saying they would vote for Tillis. An additional 5 percent said they would vote for a third party and another 5 percent said they are undecided. 

Tillis and McSally are two of the most vulnerable Republican senators facing re-election. The Cook Political report ranks McSally’s race “lean” Democrat. The report ranks Tillis’s race as a “toss up.” 

The Fox News polls of the battleground states also found Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leading President Trump. 

The polls were conducted Aug. 29 to Sept. 1. The Arizona poll surveyed 853 voters and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The North Carolina poll surveyed 804 voters and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.