Election Day isn't until November, but a new poll appears to show that Sen. John McCain already has some stiff competition in his bid for a sixth Senate term.
According to a Rocky Mountain Poll released Monday from Phoenix-based Behavior Research Center, McCain leads Democratic challenger Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick by just 1 percent, 38 percent to 37 percent.
The poll assumes that McCain and Kirkpatrick will win their primaries later this year and surveys 590 registered Arizona voters. It also has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.
Kirkpatrick announced her bid for McCain's seat last May. McCain announced his re-election bid a month earlier.
"This poll shows John McCain is in for the fight of his political career. Arizonans have seen McCain change after three decades in Washington, and now they're ready for a senator who will always fight to put our state first," D.B. Mitchell, Kirkpatrick's campaign spokesman, told ABC15.
Meanwhile, McCain's campaign spokeswoman, Lorna Romero, said the senior senator looks forward to the campaign ahead.
"We don't put much stock in a single poll nine months from Election Day, but we are confident Arizona voters will reject Congresswoman Kirkpatrick’s record of serving as Obama’s rubber stamp," Romero said.
