Election 2010: Nevada Senate Nevada Senate: Angle 50%, Reid 39% Thursday, June 10, 2010 Email to a Friend ShareThis.Advertisement Sharron Angle, following her come-from-behind Republican Primary win Tuesday, has bounced to an 11-point lead over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada’s closely-watched U.S. Senate race.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Nevada, taken Wednesday night, shows Angle earning 50% support while Reid picks up 39% of the vote. Five percent (5%) like some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.
A month ago, Angle led Reid 48% to 40% but ran poorest against the incumbent of the three GOP primary hopefuls as she has for months.
Reid will try to portray Angle, a Christian conservative who drew heavily on Tea Party support for her win, as unacceptable to the state. Still, the race for now continues to be about the incumbent, who earned 61% of the vote when he was reelected in 2004 but whose support in this election cycle against any Republican candidate has never risen above the low 40s.
Despite their hotly-contested primary, Republicans already appear to be solidifying behind Angle who now earns 88% support among voters in her party. Reid draws 68% support from Democrats. Voters not affiliated with either party prefer Angle by 10 points.
During intense primary battles, supporters of one candidate often say they won't vote for the party nominee in November. That was the case in 2008 as a large number of Hillary Clinton's supporters said they were not likely to support Barack Obama in the general election campaign. However, by Election Day, most Clinton supporters came home and voted for their party's nominee.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Nevada was conducted on June 9, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
In line with voter sentiments nationally, 58% of Nevada voters favor repeal of the recently-passed national health care bill, championed by Reid, while 41% oppose repeal. This includes 47% who Strongly Favor repeal and 29% who Strongly Oppose it.
Seventy-nine percent (79%) of those who Strongly Favor repeal support Angle. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the smaller group who Strongly Oppose repeal support Reid.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters in Nevada favor passage of a tough immigration law like Arizona’s in their state, nine points higher than support nationwide. Twenty-five percent (25%) oppose such a law in Nevada.
Angle gets 73% of the vote from those who favor a law like Arizona’s. Reid draws 84% support from those who oppose a law like that in their state.
Sixty-seven percent (67%) of all voters in Nevada also support the chief requirement of the Arizona law that local police check the immigration status of anyone stopped for a traffic violation or some other violation if they suspect the person is an illegal immigrant. Just 21% oppose that requirement.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of voters in Nevada have a Very Favorable opinion of Reid, who has represented the state in the U.S. Senate since 1987. Forty-five percent (45%) view him Very Unfavorably.
Angle, a teacher by profession who now serves in the state legislature, is viewed Very Favorably by 20% and Very Unfavorably by 23%.
Both candidates are well-known in the state, but 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.
Nevada voters are closely divided over their views of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and over whether she should be confirmed to the high court by the Senate.
Fifty-four percent (54%) believe the Gulf oil spill will have a devastating long-term impact on the environment, while another 30% predict that the impact will be major. Eighty-one percent (81%) say the companies involved in the oil drilling should pay for the cleanup, but 17% say the government should help with the cost as well.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of Nevada voters approve of the job President Obama is doing, but 51% disapprove. This is roughly in line with voter opinions nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed Senate races in Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Washington, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, Iowa, Vermont, Wisconsin, Idaho, Washington and Hawaii.
