PHOENIX — Scandal-plagued Congressman David Schweikert finds himself in a toss-up race against his Democratic challenger as early voting begins in Arizona, according to a new poll of Schweikert’s reliably red northeast Valley district.
The five-term Republican leads Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, 49% to 46%, in a poll released Wednesday by Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights.
The polling spread is within the margin of error, indicating the race is a toss-up.
Back in August, the Cook Political Report moved the Sixth Congressional District contest from “leans Republican” to “toss-up.”
In 2016, President Donald Trump carried the district by 10 points; two years ago, Schweikert won it by 11.
Schweikert’s campaign has been reeling since the House of Representatives slapped him with a rare reprimand in July for 11 ethics violations, related to campaign and office spending. He agreed to pay a $50,000 fine.
For two years, Schweikert had publicly maintained they were “bookkeeping” errors. As he fought the ethics charges, Schweikert emptied his campaign coffers to pay for lawyers.
Pollster Mike Noble said Schweikert was beset by some of the same problems afflicting Trump: College-educated voters are abandoning both of them.
Congressional District 6 residents are the best-educated in Arizona: Forty percent have college degrees or above.
Tipirneni leads Schweikert by 5 points among college-educated voters, the poll shows. Schweikert is up by 10 points among non-college educated voters.
Trump’s race against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is also a toss-up: 49% for Trump to 48% for Biden.
The live-caller survey was done Sept. 23 through 27, before the presidential debate and Trump's coronavirus diagnosis.
The margin of error is plus or minus 4.3 percent.
