While some may roll their eyes at Libertarian Party presidential nominee and marijuana-legalization champion Gary Johnson, recent polling shows that his presence on the ballot could have an effect on the presidential race, at least in Nevada.
A Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released Wednesday found President Barack Obama has a four-point lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney in Nevada (51-47 percent). But when Johnson is thrown into the mix, the former New Mexico governor garners three percent of the vote, largely pulling voters from Obama.
“When Gary Johnson’s included he gets 3 percent and actually takes mostly from Obama, pulling his lead over Romney down to 48/47,” PPP explained. “That could be something worth keeping an eye on.”
PPP noted that, last month, Obama’s lead on Romney in the Silver State was five points higher, with a 52-43 percent result in the middle of September.
“That five point decline for Obama is consistent with what we’ve been seeing in most of our national and state level polling since last week’s debate,” the report read.
Johnson will be on the ballot in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Nevada has six electoral votes.