Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is still way behind a slew of GOP candidates in his bid to win a fifth term in the Senate, according to a new poll. But there’s a glimmer of hope for Reid contained in the numbers — if the Tea Party (which appears to be a real thing in Nevada) mounts a serious candidate in the race, Reid could find himself back in a competitive fight.
The details are all contained in the newest Mason-Dixon poll of Nevada, published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal this weekend.
Reid trails all GOP candidates tested in the poll, a position he’s found himself in for more than a few polls now. Former state GOP chair Sue Lowden leads the GOP field for the nomination in the Mason-Dixon poll. The current TPM Poll Average“TPM Poll Average shows Lowden beating Reid by a 48.8-39.1 margin
The race is expected to include at least one Tea Party candidate, Las Vegas business leader Scott Ashjian. And there’s evidence in the Mason-Dixon poll that Reid would benefit, should Ashjian become a serious third candidate in the race (which is a big if). The pollster pitted Reid against a nameless Republican and a nameless Tea Party candidate in a hypothetical matchup. Asked how they’d vote, Nevadans gave Reid a slight edge in three-way race. Reid got 36% of the vote, the GOP candidate 32 and the Tea Party candidate 18%.
It’s not surprising that a Tea Party candidate would be more damaging to a Republican nominee than a Democrat. Polls have suggested that for months. But for Reid, one of the few Democrats who may actually face a field that includes a Tea Party nominee this year, the continued divide among conservatives between the tea party movement and the Republican Party is a rare bit of good news for the embattled Democratic majority leader.
