Cortez Masto leading Laxalt by 8 points: Nevada Senate poll

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is leading her likely Republican opponent and former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt by 8 points, but President Biden’s low approval rating could hurt her, according to a new poll.

In a new Nevada Independent-OH Predictive Insights poll, 43 percent of respondents said they would vote for Cortez Masto in a head-to-head election, compared to 35 percent for Laxalt.

On the national level, only 43 percent of polled voters approved of President Biden’s job in office, while 46 percent viewed Trump favorably.

The economy was the most important issue for voters, with 36 percent placing it atop their priority list. And 57 percent of voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy.

A Suffolk University-Reno Gazette Journal poll published earlier in April showed Cortez Masto trailing Laxalt by three points. Only 35 percent of those polled at the time approved of Biden’s performance.

Cortez Masto is among the main targets of Senate Republicans, who see her as one of the more vulnerable Democratic incumbents.

However, she’s fundraised record numbers, securing more than $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Nevada Independent.

She has also been among a growing group of Democrats pushing back on Biden’s decision to rescind Title 42, a Trump-era policy that blocked migrants from crossing the border during the pandemic due to public health concerns.

“This is the wrong way to do this and it will leave the administration unprepared for a surge at the border,” she said in a statement earlier this month.

Laxalt, who has been endorsed by Trump, is facing Sam Brown, a veteran and businessman, for the GOP nomination, but the battle for Brown is uphill, with a Club for Growth/WPA Intelligence poll in late March putting him at 19 percent to Laxalt’s 57 percent among likely primary voters.

However, Cortez Masto led Brown by 8 points in a hypothetical matchup, the same margin as a matchup with Laxalt.