The leading Democrat in the Arizona gubernatorial race made it official the other day – rather quietly:
Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard on Friday formally became a candidate for Arizona governor, but he wasn’t talking publicly about it.
Goddard, who so far is unopposed for the Democratic nomination, filed official papers changing his exploratory committee to a campaign committee on Friday.
But there was no news conference to mark Goddard officially entering the race, and a campaign aide said he was not available to answer questions about dropping his exploratory status, the state’s budget crisis or other topics.
In a release sent out by Goddard’s committee to announce the filing, he said, “I will be making an announcement in the weeks to come.”
And Rasmussen has some numbers for us (general | primary) (1/20, likely voters, 11/18/09 in parens):
Terry Goddard (D): 43 (44)
Jan Brewer (R-inc): 41 (35)
Other: 7 (9)
Undecided: 9 (12)Terry Goddard (D): 35 (40)
Dean Martin (R): 44 (38)
Other: 6 (11)
Undecided: 14 (1)
(MoE: ±3%)Dean Martin (R): 31
Jan Brewer (R): 29
John Munger (R): 7
Vernon Parker (R): 5
Other: 8
Undecided: 20
(MoE: ±4.5%)
I’d like to see some other polls first before deciding whether Goddard truly has slipped, or if he’s just been Rasmussened. Meanwhile, the GOP primary fight looks interesting. The previous primary poll had Sherriff Joe Arpaio cleaning up, but he hasn’t given any indication that he actually wants to run, so he was dropped from this survey. That makes the trendlines hard to compare, though Brewer, who was at an abysmal 10% in the last poll, is looking a lot better with Arpaio gone.
How in the world could Brewer have gained???
Who does the increase in Teabagger turnout help in the gubernatorial primary? And does Arizona have a runoff?
There’s no runoff in Arizona. Teabaggers are definitely lining up behind Martin, Brewer is hated.
The reason Brewer and Martin are both gaining (against Goddard) is because they are working! They’re offering initiatives (as horrible as they may be) and are engaging the issues. As David’s excerpt at the top points out, Goddard isn’t even talking when he becomes an official candidate. Maybe it’s too early, but Arizona Dems are starting to worry about what we all thought should be a pickup.