Hourly Update

Arizona poll: Bush, Kerry in tight race

PHOENIX - President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee, are locked in a tight race among Arizona voters, according to a poll released Tuesday. The poll found 41 percent favored Bush, while 42 percent favored John Kerry, the presumed Democratic nominee for president. The survey, taken July 15-18, contrasted poll taken by another organization June 30-July 7. That poll, by the Behavior Research Center, found Bush was leading Kerry 48 percent to 36 percent. The most recent poll found Arizonans are equally divided on whether they approve of President Bush's job performance, his handling of the economy and the war on terrorism. The poll, taken by KAET-TV and Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, found a majority of registered voters _ 55 percent _ disapproved of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. Forty-two percent approved. Voters were also asked about two ballot initiatives that could be placed before them in November. A large majority, 74 percent, favored a measure that would deny services to illegal immigrants and require voters to show identification. Sixteen percent said they opposed it. Asked about a measure that would overturn Arizona's public funding of campaigns, 57 percent said they opposed overturning it, while 18 percent said they favored it. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.