Republican Senate candidate Joe Heck has reversed a slight deficit against Senator Harry Reid-backed former Nevada Secretary of State Catherine Masto into a two point lead in a new poll published Monday.
The Monmouth University poll asked over 400 likely voters in Nevada for their views on the local election, as well as the national election. Representative Joe Heck led Masto 42 to 40 percent. Both candidates are strong within their party base, with Heck earning 81 percent of Republican support, and Masto earning 83 percent of Democratic support. The poll concludes that both candidates can improve their numbers by appealing to party base.
Party membership appears to be a significant factor in this race as well, according to the poll, since both candidates have very low name recognition scores: Forty-four (44) percent of likely voters have no opinion of Heck, while 55 percent have no opinion of Masto. Both candidates leave substantial money on the table, with 18 percent taking other options. The Independent American Party candidate Tom Jones earned 5 percent of the vote, 6 percent chose “none of these candidates,” and 7 percent of respondents remain undecided.
The results for the presidential election were comparable. Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton held a narrow 4 point lead over Republican challenger Donald Trump, 45 to 41 percent. Of the remaining voters, 5 percent supported Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, with 4 percent choosing the rare Nevada ballot option, “none of these candidates.”
Trump maintained his higher numbers among Republicans. Last month, Trump earned 84 percent, but Monday the percentage of Republicans backing the presumptive nominee increased to 88 percent. Six percent of Republicans crossed the aisle to support Clinton.
Clinton also did well among Democrats, with 92 percent of Democrats supporting Clinton, and only 3 percent of Democrats crossing the aisle for Trump. Independents were split with 39 percent backing Trump, and 37 percent backing Clinton. Clinton held a 15 point lead among women voters, while Trump’s lead among male voters decreased to 7 percent.
Voters were almost evenly split when asked, “what candidate is more likely to help the little guy,” with 37 percent of likely voters naming Clinton and 31 percent naming Trump. Twenty seven percent of respondents say that neither candidate will “look out for the little guy.”
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