Maybe even Rauner could've been re-elected if Dick Durbin died and he appointed some partisan hack to the Senate. Gotta love American "swing voters."
Do we really think that's the reason why Ducey is leading by so much? Seems like a nonsensical/unimportant issue.
The polls were close before that and every poll has shown Ducey getting extremely high approval for his Senate appointment. Theoretically it could be a coincidence, but I doubt it. He got tons of positive media coverage during this stretch of time.
That's why you shouldn't trust Garcia internals and Gravis, the only polls released before the announcement on September 4.