John McCain and Hilliary Clinton

Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Hillary Clinton are tops among Arizona voters in their respective parties, according to Bruce Merrill and his team of pollsters at Arizona State University and KAET-TV Channel 8.

Here’s the breakdown among Republicans: McCain at 27 percent, Rudy Giuliani at 22 percent, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney at 17 percent each, and Newt Gingrich at 8 percent. Undecided came in at 9 percent.

Here’s how it stakes up among Democrats: Clinton at 38 percent, Al Gore and Barack Obama at 18 percent each, John Edwards at 10 percent, and Bill Richardson at 5 percent. Undecided was 11 percent.

Overall, McCain is still lack-luster among Republicans in his home state. Consider this: While McCain is getting 27 percent support, the anybody-who-isn’t-McCain candidates are getting a combined 64 percent support.

“Sen. McCain probably has a slight lead in the Arizona Republican primary race, but he shouldn’t and probably won’t take the state for granted,” Merrill said. “After the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, I think you’ll see the senator spend more time in the state and his numbers will improve.”

On the Democratic side, Clinton is an interesting candidate, Merrill said. “Voters either love her or hate her. She has very high negatives and it will be interesting to see how many Democrats who say they don’t like her will still vote for her.”

The only candidates have spent any quality time campaigning in Arizona, McCain and Romney, aren’t exactly lighting up the electorate. McCain, as we discussed, is only at 27 percent, while Romney is doing even further back at 17 percent.

To be fair though, Giuliani, Edwards and Richardson also have made campaign swings through the state. And Giuliani is likely to come back at any time to restock his Adam Sandler DVD collection.

Also interestingly, former Vice President Gore is tied for second on the donkey side, which is remarkable for a non-candidate who keeps insisting he isn’t running.

State Sen. Chuck Gray, who is serving as Mitt Romney

The East Valley will figure prominently in Mitt Romney