Congressman Jim Gibbons is still leading the race for governor, but a new Review-Journal poll of voters statewide indicates the race is tightening.
The telephone poll, conducted Friday through Monday, shows Gibbons' lead in the single digits for the first time.
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State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus' standing is improving in both the Democratic primary and a hypothetical general election matchup with Republican Gibbons.
The poll shows Gibbons handily winning his primary and beating both Titus and Democrat Jim Gibson, the Henderson mayor.
But support for Gibbons has fallen slightly from the last poll in May, and Titus is now within 9 percentage points of the congressman in a head-to-head matchup.
"We're extremely pleased," said David Barnhart, Titus' campaign manager.
"The more voters learn about Dina, the more they're responding to what she's been saying about government needing to educate kids and lock up bad guys and get out of the way."
Gibbons said Tuesday he is focused on the Republican primary race and not which Democrat might be narrowing the gap.
"I'm truly honored by the support indicated by the poll," said Gibbons, which showed him with 45 percent of the vote in a matchup with Titus, who took 36 percent.
Nineteen percent of respondents were undecided.
"We anticipate that the polls will continue to fluctuate, but I'm glad to see that people support what I've done in Congress and the vision I have been expressing for the state."
The poll of 625 voters, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points in statewide and general election questions.
Party primary questions were conducted with a smaller sample size and have a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.
The poll shows Titus is closer to Gibbons than is her Democratic counterpart.
Gibbons would beat Titus by 9 points and Gibson by 15 points.
Gibson is often cited by political consultants as having the better chance of beating Gibbons in a general election.
The mayor is regarded as a more conservative Democrat than Titus, and the state's recent elections have been trending to Republicans.
"Mayor Gibson has been officially in the race since Thursday," said campaign spokesman Greg Bortolin.
"This is really a function of what a campaign is all about. We believe and the mayor believes that once voters are exposed to the mayor's vision and record, the numbers will reflect more support."
Brad Coker, managing partner of the Washington, D.C.-based polling firm, said that with 10 months to go before the primary elections, the race is still up in the air.
"You can't dismiss anyone at this point," Coker said.
All polls conducted in the race thus far put Gibbons in the lead.
The congressman continues his primary domination in this poll, leading Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt by 36 points.
State Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, hasn't broken the double-digit mark.
But Gibbons has dropped several points in a primary matchup, from a high of 60 percent to Hunt's 13 percent in a May Mason-Dixon poll.
And though Hunt has yet to come close to Gibbons, she is leading both Democrats in hypothetical general election contests.
Hunt would beat Titus 40 percent to 35 percent, and would beat Gibson 39 percent to 38 percent, with the remaining voters undecided.
"It clearly shows that I could win the general election, so it's up to me to get busy now," Hunt said.
"I need to get started campaigning so folks can know who I am and support me to win the primary."
Hunt also has the second-highest name recognition in the poll, with 89 percent of voters statewide recognizing her, thanks largely to her two previous statewide victories.
"Once people understand my experience and see that I have the best qualities for the job, I think they're going to hire me," she said.
Gibbons still enjoys the best recognition, but his negative number has crept up slightly since May.
In the last poll, 12 percent of voters viewed him unfavorably. Now 17 percent do.
"Gibbons is still the front-runner but his support has dropped a bit," Coker said.
"It may be a function of fallout from his wife running for Congress at the same time."
Gibbons' wife, Dawn Gibbons, is running for his congressional seat in the 2nd Congressional District.
Titus and Gibson have also been criticizing the congressman in campaign events around the state, and university system Chancellor Jim Rogers also has made critical remarks.
But Democrats continue to believe Titus is the best one to take Gibbons on.
Titus wins a primary match-up with Gibson 40 percent to 26 percent, with a third of voters undecided.
In May, when Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins was in the race for the Democratic nomination, Titus was leading Perkins 31 percent to 16 percent with more than half undecided.
Perkins withdrew from the race in September citing an inability to win a contested primary and still have enough resources to take on Gibbons.
With 10 months before the Aug. 15 primaries and more than a year before the general election, Coker said the race is still Gibbons' to lose.
Said Coker: "Gibbons will come out of the primary as the one to beat and the Democrats are going to spend the next 10 months chasing him."
