Alex Gonzalez
Arizona's 50+ voters will be key in determining who wins the presidential election in November.
A new AARP Arizona poll, which was commissioned before the recent debate debacle, found former President Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden by eight percentage pointed.
Bob Ward, partner at the research firm Fabrizio Ward, said Arizona has a high number of older voters, which have historically made their voices heard but are not necessarily party-loyal. He pointed out one of the poll findings worth noting is women over the age of 50 could play a pivotal role in tipping the scales.
"There is a gender gap, and if we look at women over 50, they are tied on the presidential race." Bob Ward
" Ward reported. "Both Trump and Biden are at 42% among women 50+ and Trump has more than a 22-point lead among men 50+."
Ward added Trump's lead among older Arizona voters is 10 points ahead of Biden, with most citing immigration and border security as the most important issue, followed by inflation and rising prices and threats to democracy. Meanwhile, Arizona Hispanic voters are helping Biden lead over Trump, 48% to 37% respectively.
Another highly anticipated contest is the Senate race between Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake. Poll results showed Gallego holds a narrow lead over Lake. The gender gap among 50+ voters is also significant, with women supporting Gallego by 12 percentage points and men preferring Lake by 15. Gallego has been an advocate for abortion rights and Lake has been a strong proponent for increased border security.
Jeff Liszt, partner at Impact Research, said 50+ voters are highly motivated and will make their voice heard.
"If you look at the people that are 10 out of 10, extremely motivated to vote, the percentage of voters over 50, who are 10 out of 10 is 86%." Jeff Liszt
Liszt explained. "That is 20 points higher than the 66% of voters under age 50 who tell us they are 10 out of 10 motivated to vote."
Liszt called it a huge gap and added it will be interesting to see whether younger voters will show up and vote, adding he has confidence in older voters in the Grand Canyon State.
