Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Reid maintains large lead over Ziser in latest poll

Harry Reid Richard Ziser Click image for enlargement.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., continues to trounce Richard Ziser, his Republican general election opponent, according to the results of a new survey conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and reviewjournal.com.

The three-term senator leads Ziser by 27 percentage points, or 59 percent to 32 percent, in the survey of 625 likely voters throughout the state that was conducted Oct. 14-16.

The numbers show Reid beating Ziser among a mix of constituencies -- men and women, Democrats and independents, rural, Clark County and Washoe County voters.

Ziser's sole base of support was among Republican voters, who favored him 59 percent to 28 percent, according to the survey by Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. The margin of error is no more than plus or minus 4 percentage points.

"I've been working on my campaign for six years. I wanted to make sure I was not overconfident as I was six years ago," Reid said. Nevada's senior senator won his 1998 race against then-Rep. John Ensign, a Republican, by 428 votes.

Ziser remained optimistic that he will do better than expected with a boost from Republican Party loyalists voting for President Bush in the presidential race.

"I firmly believe if we can get the message to them, they'll vote in our direction," said Ziser, who has received limited financial help from national Republican sources.

According to the poll results:

• Reid is favorably viewed by 52 percent of the voters and unfavorably by 23 percent. Two percent of the voters surveyed did not recognize his name.

• Ziser is favorably perceived by 22 percent of the voters and unfavorably by 7 percent. Forty-five percent did not recognize his name.

"Reid could've been beaten if (Nevada Republican Rep. Jim) Gibbons or another big name had gotten into it, but Ziser? Half the voters don't know who he is," said pollster Brad Coker.