Poll: Reid trailing Lowden, Tarkanian

LAS VEGAS (AP) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trailing two Republicans running to unseat him in next year's election, according to a newspaper poll.

The survey of 500 registered voters has Reid lagging behind Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian in possible matchups for the U.S. Senate next year.

Reid is running for a fifth term.

Lowden, the former chairwoman of the state GOP, was picked by 49 percent of the voters to Reid's 39 percent. Voters were also asked about a Tarkanian-Reid race, and 48 percent said they would favor Tarkanian to 43 percent for Reid.

The poll was conducted by Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. for The Las Vegas Review-Journal, which published the results in a story Sunday.

The results, which carry a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, are roughly the same as a poll taken for the Review-Journal in August.

Campaign manager Brandon Hall said Reid doesn't put much stock in polls. Reid still has more than a year to raise funds and support before the election next November.

"As the election draws closer and voters are presented with a choice between moving our economy forward and the status quo, we are confident that Senator Reid's vision of moving forward will prevail," Hall said.

There is also the matter of who Reid will be facing.

Lowden and Tarkanian, son of former basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, still need to get through the Republican primary in a field that includes state Sen. Mark Amodei, Reno attorney Chuck Kozak and former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle.

The poll found 23 percent of Republicans surveyed favor Lowden and 21 percent favor Tarkanian, with 44 percent still undecided.

"That's a lot of voters sitting on the fence," said Brad Coker, Mason-Dixon managing partner.

The Review-Journal also surveyed voters about potential gubernatorial candidates, with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and former U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval, a Republican, running about even.

Sandoval is a Republican, and Goodman is a registered Democrat who is considering running as an independent.

The poll showed just 14 percent of Nevadans view incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons favorably.