Poll: Republicans lead Senate races in four battleground states

Republicans lead their Democratic rivals in the Senate races in four battleground states, according to new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls.

{mosads}In Arizona, Sen. John McCain (R) has a 19-point lead over Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, his Democratic challenger. McCain is favored by 57 percent of likely voters, while Kirkpatrick is backed by 38 percent.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) also holds a lead over Democratic challenger Jim Barksdale in Georgia. Isakson is up by 15 points, 53 percent to 38 percent.

The race is tighter in Nevada, where Rep. Joe Heck (R) has just a 2-point lead over challenger Catherine Cortez Masto, a former Nevada attorney general. In that race, Heck is backed by 47 percent of likely voters, and Cortez Masto by 45 percent.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) also has an 8-point lead in New Hampshire over Gov. Maggie Hassan (D). Ayotte is favored by 52 percent of likely voters, and Hassan by 44 percent.

The polls, conducted Sept. 6–8, have margins of error of 3.9 percentage points in Georgia and Nevada, a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points in Arizona and a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points in New Hampshire.

In the presidential race, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump are deadlocked in all four states, according to the polls.