John McCain's the Least-Popular Senator in the Country, Poll Finds

No U.S. Senator gets worse reviews from his constituents than Senator John McCain, according to poll results.

About 30 percent of the Arizonans polled by Public Policy Polling said they approve of McCain's job performance, whereas 54 percent said they disapprove.

Republicans, Democrats, and independents agreed on this one -- more then 50 percent from each affiliation said they disapprove of McCain's performance. That's not particularly surprising, since the state Republican Party formally "censured" McCain earlier this year.

Arizona's no stranger to having the least-popular senator in the country.

Around this time last year, Public Policy Polling released a poll that named Senator Jeff Flake the most unpopular senator in the country.

Flake's net approval rating then was -19, whereas he's now at -20, and McCain's at -24.

McCain's not up for re-election until 2016, but PPP asked voters a few questions about hypothetical match-ups for that race.

"George McGovern lost his Senate seat 8 years after losing his Presidential bid and McCain could suffer a similar fate," PPP president Dean Debnam says explains in the poll release.

Although about 20 to 25 percent of the people stayed undecided on the hypothetical senate match-ups with McCain, the pollsters found that Richard Carmona, the 2012 runner-up to Flake, and former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, would be ahead of McCain.

The other hypothetical senate candidate they tested against McCain didn't do so well. Former Arizona Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano came behind McCain, 44 percent to 36 percent.

According to McCain spokesman Brian Rodgers, "This poll was conducted by a firm with well-known ties to the Democratic Party. Its results are strongly contradicted by recent public and private polling, and Senator McCain is confident that he's earned the respect and confidence of the people of Arizona."

(See Exhibit A and Exhibit B on PPP's recent polling accuracy.)

Some other findings from the poll:

• Hillary Clinton was tied or ahead of Republicans in Arizona in five hypothetical match-ups for the 2016 presidential race.


• Raising the minimum wage to $10 per hour was supported by 53 percent of people.


• Forty-four percent of people said they still support SB 1070, compared to 36 percent who oppose it.


• A solid majority (67 percent) support the state's medical-marijuana program.


• Marijuana legalization is within the margin of error -- 46 percent support it, and 48 percent oppose it.


• Half of Arizonans say the Diamondbacks are their favorite MLB team.


• Thirty-four percent of people say they're ASU fans, and 31 percent say they're UA fans.