Arizona is a top presidential battleground. But the Senate and House races there are taking place in their own universe.

PHOENIX — Mesa Mayor John Giles, a Republican who supports Kamala Harris for president, is vexed by the disconnect between Arizona’s presidential race and what’s happening down the ballot.

PHOENIX — Mesa Mayor John Giles, a Republican who supports Kamala Harris for president, is vexed by the disconnect between Arizona’s presidential race and what’s happening down the ballot.

Polls show Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, the quintessential Donald Trump acolyte, losing a significant slice of the former president’s voters to her Democratic rival, Rep. Ruben Gallego.

“There’s something teflon about Donald Trump that just makes no sense to me. Kari Lake says literally the same things as Donald Trump and people roll their eyes. And when Donald Trump says that, they clap,” Giles said in an interview. “I can’t — there’s no rational explanation for that.”

That disconnect captures a unique dynamic in battleground Arizona: A consequential race for Senate and a pair of ultracompetitive House elections are operating in their own mini-universe, largely detached from the marquee presidential contest — and each other. A ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution hasn’t delivered an obvious boost for Democratic candidates that they had hoped for.

Instead, a mix of ticket-splitting, shifting party coalitions and candidate contrasts are driving the races in this historically Republican stronghold that has become a top swing state.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/arizona-battleground-senate-house-races-rcna176110

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