With the backing of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, polls show Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney appears poised to win the primary in the Grand Canyon State on Tuesday.
A We Ask America poll of likely Arizona primary voters, released on Monday, shows Romney with a commanding lead. He takes 43 percent of those surveyed -- far ahead of Rick Santorum who places second with 27 percent. Newt Gingrich places third with 21 percent, followed by Ron Paul who garners 10 percent. The poll of 1,162 likely Arizona Republican primary voters was taken Feb. 26 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.87 percent.
Public Policy Polling, a firm with connections to many prominent Democrats, released a poll of Arizona Republicans late on Sunday showing very similar results: Romney leads with 43 percent, followed by Santorum with 26 percent, Gingrich with 18 percent and Paul with 11 percent. The poll of 515 likely Arizona Republican primary voters was taken Feb. 26 and had margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent.
Arizona looks like it will provide one of Mitt Romneys most dominating victories yet, said Dean Debnam, the president of PPP. Hes basically winning every key segment of the electorate.
Debnam added that Santorums favorable numbers have collapsed in the Grand Canyon State since the debate there last week.
Rick Santorum looks to have shot himself in the foot with his debate performance last week, Debnam said, noting that Romney and Gingrich were now beating out Santorum with tea party supporters in Arizona.
The debate also weighed in the mind of Brewer, who won national attention for supporting her states immigration law. She announced on "Meet the Press" on Sunday that she is backing Romney.
I have had my debate there in Arizona, and I have looked over all the wonderful people that have put themselves up for nomination, and I have decided that I am going to publicly endorse Mitt Romney," Brewer said. I think he's the man that can carry the day, and I am going to get out there and work as hard as I know how to make sure that he wins Arizona and work in other places of our country to see that he wins those places, too.
I think that he handles himself very, very well. But more than that, I think that he has that pro-business background and he has that political history that I think that he would serve America the best of all the candidates, Brewer added. So it was a difficult decision, but I think Mitt is by far the person that can go in and win.
The Santorum camp responded on Sunday afternoon by unveiling the endorsement of Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal.
"I have been closely following the race and learning about the values and positions of each of the candidates," said Huppenthal. Our nation is facing serious issues -- issues that require a president with the conservative conviction and experience to guide America back toward the ideals that made our county great. Senator Santorum's values most closely align with my own, that is why I am proud to endorse him as our party's nominee for president.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
