Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is rooting for the Tea Party, at least as far as his own Nevada reelection bid goes.
A new poll from Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies shows that if a Tea Party candidate runs in Nevada’s Senate election, the Republican nominee could lose up to 22 percent of their support, giving Reid’s flailing campaign a shot at victory.
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“Harry does seem to have an advantage in that he has a very large war chest and no divisive primary,” said Ted Jelens the head of the Political Science Department at the University of Nevada. “But I wouldn’t bet a nickel either way. This is going to be a very tight election.”
The new polls are the first good news for Reid’s team in a while. A Rasmussen poll earlier this month showed Reid’s top showing against any of four GOP challengers at 41 percent. The numbers showed Reid getting creamed in hypothetical races against the Republican front-runners, former state GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden and real estate developer and former basketball star Danny Tarkanian.
But, with reports that New York banker John Ashjian plans to run as a Tea Party candidate, Reid might have a chance. The Public Opinion Strategies poll shows that in a hypothetical race among Lowden, Reid and Ashjian, Lowden carried only 42 percent, leaving Reid with 37 percent and Ashjian collecting 9 percent of the vote. If Tarkanian was the GOP candidate, Reid trailed by only one point.
Ashjian’s candidacy remains shrouded in mystery because he has kept quiet about his campaign and the newly created Tea Party of Nevada. Barry Levinson, a local lawyer and registered Democrat is the party secretary. An employee at Levinson’s law firm said he would not comment on the race.
The candidate filing deadline in Nevada is March 12.
Reid said earlier this month that he is willing to shell out up to $25 million on his campaign, which would make 2010 the state’s most expensive Senate race to date.
Jelens said Reid could easily monopolize advertising in Las Vegas and Reno television markets with such a large war chest.