Support for Democrats is slipping in Nevada, according to a poll from The Nevada Independent.
Survey results show Nevada Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak and Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto are beginning to face trouble heading into their 2022 elections.
Gov. Sisolak holds a slim lead, well within the margin of error, over the likely GOP frontrunners — former Sen. Dean Heller, and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo.
Sisolak leads Heller by two points, 45.8 percent to 43.3 percent. Sisolak is in an effective tie with Lombardo with 44.9 percent to 44.4 percent.
Sen. Cortez-Masto maintains a slim four-point lead over her likely Republican challenger, former Attorney General Adam Laxalt, with 45.5 percent to 41.2 percent.
Laxalt will likely see an increase in support due to his recent endorsement from President Donald Trump, who is strongly favored and supported by Nevada Republicans.
Despite Democrats leading Republicans in Nevada one year out from the 2022 midterm elections, the results from this poll shows that Nevada Democrats will face an uphill battle moving forward. Support for Democrats has plummeted in Nevada since Joe Biden took office in January.
According to a Civiqs poll, support for Joe Biden’s has dropped nine points in Nevada from 50 percent in January to 41 percent in October. According to the poll, 52 percent of Nevada residents disapprove of Biden.
Biden was certified as the narrow winner of Nevada in 2020 with more than 33,000 votes over Donald Trump, despite reports and allegations of irregularities across the state pertaining to mail-in ballots. Biden received 50.1 percent to Trump’s 47.7 percent.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton narrowly carried Nevada with 47.9 percent to Trump’s 45.5 percent. Since 2016, the vast majority of statewide races in Nevada have elected Democrats.
However, support for Gov. Sisolak has dropped in the state. In December 2019, more than 50 percent of residents approved of Sisolak, while only 27 percent disapproved, according to a poll from Morning Consult. In March 2021, Sisolak’s approval rating dropped slightly to 48 percent. However, his disapproval rating increased to 43 percent from 27 percent. The Nevada Independent poll shows that less than 45 percent of residents would support Sisolak in 2022.
Nevada narrowly elected Gov. Sisolak in 2018 and Sen. Cortez-Masto in 2016. During the 2018 midterms, a year with higher turnout for Democrats than Republicans, Sisolak narrowly carried Nevada by four points. In 2016, Cortez-Masto won her senate seat by a margin of only two points.
“Nevada is and will be a competitive battleground state. It was in 2018, it was in 2020 and it will be in 2022,” said John Anzalone, the governor’s pollster. He told Politico that it is “a very competitive race that we are not taking for granted.”
Sisolak and Cortez-Masto will face an uphill battle defending their seats in 2022. The 2022 midterms are expected to have vastly higher Republican turnout than Democrat, in correspondence with Joe Biden’s decreasing popularity. It will be increasingly difficult for Sisolak and Cortez-Masto to maintain high favorability and support among their constituents.