Poll: Arizona Special Election Neck-and-Neck

The race to fill a vacant House seat in Arizona is evenly split in the final week before the election, according to a new poll from Emerson College Polling.

Democratic candidate Hiral Tipirneni, a physician, holds a narrow lead over Republican former state Sen. Debbie Lesko in the latest poll, according to The Hill.

The candidates are competing for the seat vacated by Republican Trent Franks, who resigned amid reports that he attempted to pay a staffer to act as a surrogate mother.

• Tipirneni with 46 percent support
• Lesko with 45 percent support

Most recent polls have shown Lesko with a commanding lead in a district President Donald Trump won by more than 20 points in 2016, such as one from OH Predictive Insights and ABC 15 Arizona that found:

• Tipirneni with 43 percent support
• Lesko with 53 percent support

Emerson also found that Tipirneni, who's never run for office before, leads with independents and holds a high favorability rating.

• Independents: 42 percent support
• Viewed favorably: 49 percent
• Viewed unfavorably: 29 percent

Lesko, despite strong support from Republicans, has a much higher unfavorable rating, possibly due to her connection to Franks, who is viewed very negatively in the state.

• 43 percent view Lesko favorably
• 45 percent view her unfavorably
• 24 percent view Franks favorably
• 49 percent view him unfavorably

Emerson polled 400 registered voters by phone and online from April 12 to 15, with a margin of error of 5.2 percent.

• GOP Scrambles to Lock Down House Control
• DACA Students in Arizona Denied In-State Tuition