Know what the best part of this new poll released by Arizona Working Families is? The lowest ranked legislator of those mentioned in the survey was none other than crackpot Republican state Senator Sylvia Allen.
Allen, who currently represents Legislative District 5, scored a measly 22 percent favorable rating in the newly-drawn Legislative District 6, which the Snowflake crazy lady must run in.
This is the same far right wackadoodle who believes planet Earth is only 6,000 years old. She's been the driving force behind the formation of what's currently called the Arizona Special Missions Unit (formerly, the Arizona State Guard), a proposed armed force of toothless hillbillies funded to the tune of $1.4 million so they can run around the border and chase brown people.
The flake from Snowflake also hearts far-right extremists such as recalled state Senate President Russell Pearce, and Mexican-hating anti-Semite Glenn Spencer, whom Allen recently allowed to lecture her Border Security, Federalism and State Sovereignty Committee over the objections of the Anti-Defamation League.
Oh, and Allen's eager to lift the ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, believes employers have the right to know if their female employees are using birth-control, and generally opposes all employee rights, such as the right of firefighters and cops to have their union dues electronically deducted from their paychecks.
But the new LD 6, which includes crunchy-lefty Flagstaff, likely won't be too keen on Allen's wingnutty ways. AWF spokesman Robbie Sherwood noted that the area LD 6 encompasses has been hit hard economically, and Allen's tinfoil hat hijinks won't play well to people hard pressed to put food on the table.
"That's one of the most economically depressed areas of the country," Sherwood explained.
He added that LD 6 voters have "deep-seated economic [worries]," and that they'll be open to hearing from "whoever's going to help them," whether that's a D or an R.
Republicans have an edge on Dems in LD 6, but Sherwood believes the new LD 6 is more moderate than the old LD 5, and more willing to kick Allen to the curb.
Flagstaff Democrat Tom Chabin, who currently represents LD 2 in the state House, is running for the LD 6 Senate seat. Allen's low numbers didn't surprise him. He chalked it up to the new parts of the district being unfamiliar with Allen's politics.
"Most voters in that district don't know who she is," Chabin contended. "And I'm glad they're going to get to know her better."
In other words, once LD6-ers figure out Allen's a walking PayDay bar, even some Rs may decide to vote for a Democrat.
Allen may not face a primary challenge, but we won't know for certain till May 30, which is the filing deadline. Due to redistricting, things are a bit confusing in that regard. After May 30, all should be clear.
The AWF poll was performed by Lake Research Partners, which surveyed eight newly-drawn districts regarding the GOP incumbents from those districts.
The favorability ratings minus Allen's, are: LD 13, Don Shooter, 34 percent, and John Nelson, 31 percent; LD 18, John McComish, 30 percent; LD 20, Linda Gray, 30 percent; LD 23, Michele Reagan, 36 percent; LD 25, Rich Crandall, 42 percent; LD 26, Jerry Lewis, 35 percent; LD 28, Adam Driggs, 31percent.
Things remain in flux. For instance, Crandall has since declared that he'll be running in LD 16. And moderate Rs such as Crandall and Driggs are also lagging, though not as badly as Allen.
A separate poll done by the same firm indicates that Arizona Republicans across the board are not doing well. Fifty-two percent of respondents rated Brewer "fair" or "poor," according to AWF. The GOP dominated legislature on the whole scored a 69 percent "fair" or "poor" rating.
Voters by a wide margin want their public leaders to lay off their incessant attacks on public employees and public sector unions, with more than three-quarters of respondents statewide backing the current merit system for public employees, and only 16 percent supporting GOP efforts to let those employees be fired at will. Seventy-three percent support allowing automatic payroll deductions -- the GOP idea of banning them being as anti-freedom as you get.
AWF's polling also found that the top three priorities for Arizonans are, in this order -- jobs, education and health care. That's not good news for the Rs, as they've done zip to create jobs in this state, and they're pretty much the avowed enemies of both education and health care.
So if the Dems use their noggins this campaign season, we might just see the end of the Republican supermajority, and, hopefully, the termination of Allen's political career with it.