Cortez Masto trails in poll of key Nevada Senate race

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is trailing her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, by 2 points in her bid for reelection, according to a new CNN poll released on Thursday.

With just over four weeks left until Election Day, 48 percent of likely voters said they support Laxalt, compared to the 46 percent that said they back Cortez Masto, according to the poll.

However, Cortez Masto leads Laxalt among the full group of registered voters that were polled, 47 percent to 44 percent. 

Cortez Masto was also viewed more favorably overall than her Republican opponent, the poll found. Forty-five percent of both likely and registered voters said they had a favorable view of the incumbent senator, compared to the 39 percent of likely voters and 35 percent of registered voters who said the same of Laxalt. 

The races for Nevada governor and secretary of state also remained tight, according to the poll.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo held a 2-point lead over Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) among likely voters in the poll, while Republican secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant led his Democratic opponent, Cisco Aguilar, by 3 points. However, both races were statistically tied among the larger pool of registered voters.

The economy and inflation was by far the biggest issue for voters, with 44 percent of voters listing it as their top issue. The next biggest issue was abortion at 14 percent.

The poll was conducted by SSRS from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 among 926 registered voters, with a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.