The newest poll from the pro-immigration reform, America’s Voice, doesn’t tell us anything new but it does emphasize how important it is for Latino voters to come out in large numbers in Nevada in order to defeat Rep. Joe Heck (R. NV):
America’s Voice released the poll numbers Friday which show both nationwide and Nevada results showing a divide between Latinos and the Republican Party. The national surveyed 2,200 people and has a margin of error of 2.1 percent while the Nevada poll surveyed 400 and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent. Both were administered between April 3 and April 13.
The poll states 78 percent of Nevada respondents felt the Republican Party either did not care or were sometimes hostile toward Latinos compared with 14 percent who said the party genuinely cared and nine percent undecided. The Democratic Party fared better with 54 percent of respondents feeling the party truly cared about them while 31 percent said the party either didn’t care or were hostile.
The numbers show a potential problem for the Republican Party, who most analysts predict need to win between 35 and 40 percent of the Latino vote to take back the White House. Hispanics are also a crucial voting bloc in Nevada, a swing state in the general election with a Latino population of 27 percent.
Forty-one percent of national respondents said immigration reform was the most important issue facing the Hispanic community – beating the economy’s 24 percent – while 29 percent said it was the most important issue overall, coming in second to fixing the economy at 36 percent.
In the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., 58 percent of respondents said they would vote most likely vote for former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, compared with 22 percent for the Republican Heck. Nineteen percent were undecided. Seventy percent of respondents said they were less likely to vote for Heck after saying he would support Trump if he becomes the nominee.
Trump of course gets an 87% unfavorable nation rating fro Latino voters while Ted Cruz gets 52% unfavorable rating and John Kasich gets 37% unfavorable rating. With anger towards Trump and the chance to elect the first Latina female Senator, things really don’t look good for Heck.
Jon Ralston has a good piece on Politico about the role U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D. NV) has had in Nevada politics and how 2014 saw the demise of the infrastructure he built when the GOP made large gains in federal and local races. While Reid is calling it quits in the U.S. Senate, that doesn’t mean he’s going out quietly:
A year later, though, Harry Mason Reid, 76, has not gone gently. With just one good eye, he still has his hands firmly on the levers of power in his home state, and he is fighting as hard as he ever has to preserve his legacy.
Nevada is a battleground state, with a significant role to play in the presidential race, a Senate seat that might determine whether Democrats regain control of that chamber and key congressional races that could make inroads in the GOP’s majority in the House. Reid, summoning all his considerable political muscle, is determined to erase the stain of 2014 and leave his stamp on his home state and the nation.
That no one who understands Nevada politics and who has studied Reid thinks this is impossible shows just how feared the minority leader remains, and just how determined he is. Reid will not be on the ballot in 2016, but he looms as large as ever over this election. Reid named the woman he wanted to succeed him the day he announced his retirement and later signaled his favorites in two nationally watched congressional races.
“Nothing would satisfy Reid more than to leave office having helped to recapture the U.S. Senate majority and to right the ship at home,” said Rebecca Lambe, Reid’s chief political hand, his eyes and ears and hammer in the state.
Reid’s desire to execute his sweeping electoral strategy is matched only by the state GOP’s passion to humiliate the man it views as the most polarizing figure in Nevada politics. It's salivating at the prospect of turning his swan song into a funeral dirge.
The likely GOP nominee for Reid’s Senate seat, Rep. Joe Heck, rarely speaks or writes his opponent’s name: rather than running against former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, he talks about “replacing Harry Reid.” Heck has digital ads that simply refer to “Harry Reid’s candidate.”
Reid named Cortez Masto as the candidate he wants to succeed him in the U.S. Senate and he is determined to make that happen. Cortez Masto has not only been proud to have his backing, she’s also aligned herself as a great ally for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. MA). Here’s one of her campaign fliers:
As the old saying goes: when we vote, we win. So lets make sure we get our base out to the polls in November. Click here to donate and get involved with Cortez Masto’s campaign.