Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-NV, left, and Jacky Rosen D-NV, right, talk during the launch of the 100-megawatt MGM Resorts Mega Solar Array Monday, June 28, 2021. The solar array facility will produce up to 90 percent of MGM Resorts Las Vegas daytime power.
Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Nevadans in Congress
Nevada’s Democratic U.S. senators are significantly more popular than President Joe Biden among state voters, according to a poll released Monday.
The poll, conducted by Morning Consult from April 1 through June 30, surveyed 2,863 registered Nevada voters, and more than 268,000 nationally.
It measured net approval rating among registered voters in each state for all 100 senators — the share of respondents who approve minus those who disapprove.
The survey found 49% of respondents approve of the job Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is doing, while 38% disapprove for an 11-percentage point net approval. That’s compared with a 44-point approval rating for Sen. Jacky Rosen — who is running for reelection in 2024 — with 34% dissatisfied with her job and a plus-10 net approval rating.
Morning Consult analyst Eli Yokley said the poll’s findings appear to be good news for Democrats, who might look to distance themselves from Biden — whose job performance has won the approval of just 34% of Nevada respondents.
“Looking at the rest of the competitive Senate map in 2024, all eyes are on seven Democratic-held seats, from (West Virginia Sen. Joe) Manchin’s and Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s in red states to those in presidential battlegrounds such as Pennsylvania and Nevada,” Yokley said in a written report.
“Besides Manchin, no vulnerable Democratic incumbent’s approval rating is underwater — and even Manchin is massively outperforming President Joe Biden’s stubbornly low job approval rating,” Yokley said.
President Joe Biden arrives in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is greeted by Mayor Carolyn Goodman of Las Vegas, Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson, where the president will participate in a Democratic National Committee fundraising on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Yokley said senators in Republican strongholds or battlegrounds consistently outperform Biden. For example, in Montana — a state former President and Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump carried by nearly 16 percentage points in 2020 — Tester’s net approval rating (+24) is 51 points better than Biden’s, according to the poll.
Biden lost Ohio by 8 points in 2020, yet Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown (+14) boasts a 39-point net approval rating compared with Biden.
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania (+14) held a net approval rating of 31 points.
Yokley noted that Democrats largely withstood a so-called “red wave” in last year’s midterms by candidates distancing themselves from — and sometimes criticizing — Biden’s policy decisions. But that may not be the case this time around.
“This dynamic continues a trend from the 2022 midterms, when Democrats managed to separate themselves from Biden’s unpopularity due in part to former President Donald Trump’s continued presence on the political stage,” Yokley said.
“It may indeed prove harder for incumbents to distance themselves from the top of the ticket in the 2024 elections,” Yokley said. “But their advantage over Biden’s poor numbers marks a formidable starting point as the GOP grapples with competitive primaries that are being overshadowed by the unwieldy presidential contest.”
The poll did not survey voters’ opinions of candidates running against incumbent senators running for reelection. As of Tuesday, six candidates have filed to replace Rosen, according to filings from the Federal Election Commission.
Five of those are Republicans, with former secretary of state nominee and Trump ally Jim Marchant having raised the most money through June 30.
He raised $111,647 and had $43,327 in cash-on-hand, according to FEC filings. Rosen, meanwhile, raised roughly $13.4 million and had $7.45 million in cash-on-hand.
Las Vegas-based real estate agent Stephanie Phillips to date has raised about $28,000. Attorney Ronda Kennedy fundraised $2,500.
Federal fundraising data is not yet available for Republicans Sam Brown or Barry Lindemann, nor independent Bradley Scott Wing, all of whom have joined the race in recent weeks.
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