Dan Nowicki

The Republic | azcentral.com

Freshman Sen. Jeff Flake may want to work on improving his poll numbers as he gears up for an expected 2018 re-election bid.

Flake, R-Ariz., in recent weeks has seen his national profile rise as he has become something of a GOP foil to Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee whom Flake thus far has refused to endorse or even commit to voting for in the Nov. 8 general election.

But Flake had perhaps the softest approval numbers among Arizona statewide officials in the new Arizona Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll, which was conducted Aug. 17-31, before the Trump-Flake feud erupted again on Sept. 4. Reacting to fresh Flake criticism on two national Sunday public-affairs shows, Trump blasted Flake with a couple of tweets.

Flake was viewed either favorably or very favorably by 34.9 percent of Arizona voters. But he was viewed unfavorably or very unfavorably by 35.5 percent while a significant 29.5 percent said they didn't know or refused to answer.

The overall sample size for the Flake question was 784 voters. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Besides being a contrarian with regard to his party's nominee, Flake also has angered a segment of Republicans with his support of comprehensive immigration reform. But the large number of voters who don't have an opinion may just be a consequence of a freshman senator toiling in the shadow of the much better-known senior Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

However, Flake still has time to turn those numbers around before he stands before voters again, said Nathan Gonzales, a national political analyst who edits and publishes the influential Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report in Washington, D.C.

"I don't tend to focus a lot on candidates who aren't in cycle," Gonzales said.

The live telephone poll was a collaboration of The Arizona Republic and Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy and Cronkite News.

About The Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll

Nowicki is The Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dannowicki or on his official Facebook page.