Democratic poll finds Cortez Masto leading Laxalt by 4 points in Nevada Senate race

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) holds a narrow lead over her likely GOP opponent ahead of the 2022 midterms, according to a new poll by the left-leaning Mellman Group for The Nevada Independent.

According to the poll, Cortez Masto holds a 4-point lead over former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, which falls right in line with the poll’s margin of error.

The seat is a prime target for Republicans as they try to take back the upper chamber. Cook Political Report rates the race as “lean Democrat.”

Just over 45 percent of voters say they would vote for Cortez Masto in the election, while 41.2 percent say they would vote for Laxalt.

Both candidates had 28 percent of respondents say they “strongly” support them. 

Cortez Masto also received higher favorability ratings in the poll, with 42 percent of respondents saying they had a favorable view of the senator compared to 28 percent who said the same of Laxalt.

Cortez Masto won the seat by 2.4 points over former Rep. Joe Heck (R) in 2016.

The Mellman poll comes on the heels of internal polling from the Laxalt campaign, shared with the Washington Examiner, showing the former attorney general with a slight lead over Cortez Masto.

“Internal polling from September shows that this has quickly become a very tight race,” a polling memo from the Laxalt campaign told the Examiner. “With each passing day of the Biden presidency, the environment gets better for Republicans.”

The Mellman poll also shows a tight race for governor in the Silver State.

Current Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) holds slim leads over his two most likely GOP opponents. Sisolak leads former Sen. Dean Heller (R) by just 2 points and leads Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo by just half a point. Both of those contests are well within the 4-point margin of error. 

The poll of likely Nevada voters has a 4 percent margin of error and was conducted by the Mellman Group, which sampled 600 voters Sept. 15-22. Of the respondents, 30 percent identified as Republican, 35 percent as Democrat and 35 percent as nonpartisan or with another party. The party affiliation figures closely mirror the state’s party voter registration data.