Election 2010: Nevada Senate

Nevada Senate: Reid Still Struggling

Monday, April 05, 2010

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attracts just 39% to 42% of the Nevada vote when matched against three Republican opponents. Two of his potential opponents now top the 50% level of support.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey in the state also shows that 62% of Nevada’s voters support repealing the recently passed health care law. That’s a bit higher than support for repeal nationally.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) in Nevada say the new law will be bad for the country.

The new numbers show Reid trailing ex-GOP Chairman Sue Lowden 54% to 39%. Only four percent (4%) would prefer some other candidate while two percent (2%) are not sure.

Former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle has increased her lead over the Democrat this month and is now ahead 51% to 40%. Six percent (6%) would opt for another candidate and only two percent (2%) are undecided between the two.

Reid now runs a little closer with businessman Danny Tarkanian, trailing the Republican 49% to 42%. Six percent (6%) would vote for another candidate in this race and only two percent (2%) are not sure.

Broadly speaking, the numbers continue to show what they showed in early March and have shown consistently for months—that Reid is an at-risk incumbent.

Another tough sign for the Senator is the fact that 62% of Nevada’s voters think it would be better for the country if most incumbents up for reelection this November were defeated.

Twenty-three percent (23%) of voters in the state have a very favorable opinion of Reid, up slightly from last month. But 53% view him very unfavorably, up five points over the past month.

For Lowden, very favorables are 19%, and very unfavorables total 16%.

Tarkanian is viewed very favorably by 22% and very unfavorably by 11%.

Only 8% have a very favorable view of Angle, while 13% see her very unfavorably.

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

While Barack Obama carried Nevada with 55% of the vote in 2008, just 43% of voters in the state now approve of the job he is doing as president, marking little change from last month. Fifty-eight percent (58%) disapprove of the president’s performance. These findings are comparable to Obama's national approval ratings in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

In Nevada, 49% say the views expressed by the Tea Party movement are closer than those of Congress to their own. Still, 35% take the opposite view. Fifty percent (50%) say the average Tea Party member has a better understanding of the problems America is facing than the average member of Congress. A third (34%) say the average member of Congress has a better understanding of the current problems.

Unlike voters on the national level, most voters in Nevada (52%) are not concerned that the anger at the president’s current policies will lead to violence. Forty-six percent (46%) say they are concerned about this outcome.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... ada_senate