Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Poll: Nevada voters support Clinton, gun measure and marijuana legalization

Trump

Rick T. Wilking / AP

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures during the presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.

A new poll shows Hillary Clinton boosted her lead over Donald Trump among likely Nevada voters in the aftermath of Monday's presidential debate.

In the poll by Suffolk University, Clinton is favored by 44 percent of respondents compared to 38 percent for Trump. In an August poll by the university, Clinton led Trump by 2 points.

On other matters, the poll shows that ballot questions calling for expanded background checks and legalization of recreational use of marijuana both drew strong support. Background checks drew 66 percent support to 25 percent opposition, while marijuana legalization polled 57 percent in favor to 33 percent against. In August, 48 percent of respondents supported the marijuana question, while 42 percent opposed it.

A ballot question on energy deregulation drew overwhelming support -- 72 percent in favor, 12 percent against.

The poll also indicates the race between Republican Joe Heck and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Harry Reid is neck-and-neck, with 38 percent of respondents favoring Heck and 35 percent Cortez Masto. The margin of error in the poll was 4.4 percentage points.

Among other results regarding the presidential election:

• 57 percent of debate watchers said Clinton won, versus 23 percent for Trump.

• Women favored Clinton by 15 points, 49 percent to 34 percent. In August, the margin was 44-39 percent.

• Trump's unfavorable rating increased to 59 percent from 55 percent in August. Also, 61 percent said he wasn't honest and trustworthy, compared to 52 percent in August.

"There are many positive data points for Hillary Clinton in this poll,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, said in a report posted on the university's website. “The only reasonably good news for Donald Trump is that Clinton’s 44 percent number never moved in the head-to-head matchup. Trump’s number dropped from 42 percent in August to 38 percent today, but he lost many of his voters to Gary Johnson, not Clinton.”

In the poll, 500 people were surveyed using live telephone interviews of households where respondents indicated they were very or somewhat likely to vote in the upcoming election.

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