The Nevada Broadcasters Association will tonight bring the nation the only Nevada U.S. Senate debate between Democratic candidate Harry Reid and his challenger, Republican candidate Sharon Angle. The match-up in this closely-watched, controversy-ridden race will take place in southern Nevada, which has the highest housing foreclosures and unemployment rate in the nation.
A new just-released survey by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research shows Angle pulling 47 percent support compared with 45 percent for Reid. That’s within the margin of error which is plus or minus four points. Four percent of voters were undecided, two percent chose third-party candidates and two percent chose “none of these candidates.”
The poll’s cross tabs show Angle gaining with Republicans as well as Democrats compared to the last survey by this pollster. However, Reid has narrowed the spread with independents to just eight points, 48-40.
Several recent public head-to-head polls show Angle up over Reid, but two full-ballot surveys this week showed Reid up by two points. Most analysts believe the election could go either way and that turnout is key. The Democrats have a statewide voter registration edge of nearly 60,000, so the GOP needs to turn out the vote in high numbers to compensate.
The debate tonight will be held at the Vegas PBS studios live from 6 – 7 p.m. (PST) on local channel 10, on the web at VegasPBS.org and simulcast statewide. Mitch Fox, host of the PBS talk show Nevada Week in Review, will moderate the debate. Fox has moderated city, county, state and federal office debates for more than two decades.
Marking the occasion, here is the anti-Angle released by the Reid campaign. It will begin playing on Nevada airwaves today: