Poll: Reid down 10 points to Nevada GOP chairwoman Lowden

Former
state GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden maintains a 10 point lead over Reid,
even with independent and Tea Party candidates included in the poll.

Forty-seven percent of Nevada voters said in a Mason-Dixon poll that they’d vote for Lowden if the election were held today, while 37 percent said they would reelect Reid.

The
poll shows Reid’s effort continuing to lag in the first poll since the
two-week congressional recess, during which Reid barnstormed the state,
touting his leadership on healthcare, jobs and a number of state
initiatives.

Reid said during that recess that if the election
were held today, he would win, pointing to a perception that a
conservative, Tea Party candidate would eat into Lowden’s or another GOP
competitor’s margin.

The Mason-Dixon poll, which was
commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, showed Tea Party
candidate Scott Ashjian grabbing 2 percent of the vote, while Tim
Fasano, the candidate of the Independent American Party, receives 3
percent.

Reid’s election effort has been one of the most
closely watched in this year’s cycle of Senate elections, with
Republicans optimistic that they can knock off the Senate’s top
Democrat for the second time in six years after defeating Senate
Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota in 2004.

The poll, conducted April 13-14, has a 4 percent margin of error.

Cross-posted on The Briefing Room.