Voters weigh in on Obama, Reid, Nevada governor

Both Gov. Jim Gibbons and President Barack Obama have lost points with Nevada voters in the past month, according to a new Las Vegas Review-Journal poll.

The percentage of Nevada voters who view Obama favorably has dipped below half, with 49 percent now saying they view the new president positively while 32 percent have an unfavorable view.

Asked the same question last month, the president was seen favorably by 55 percent, unfavorably by 30 percent.

Gibbons' favorable mark has declined to just 10 percent, with 57 percent holding a negative view. In May, it was 17 percent favorable, 52 percent unfavorable.

The new poll of 625 Nevadans who vote in statewide elections was conducted Thursday and Friday by Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. It compares with a similar poll Mason-Dixon conducted for the Review-Journal May 12-14.

Both surveys carry a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Since the last poll, the president has confronted a mounting crisis in Iran, proposed new regulations for the financial industry and undertaken a major push to get health care reform passed through Congress.

The May poll was conducted while the Legislature was in the process of finishing its biennial session, sprinting to pass a budget that relied on $1 billion in new taxes despite Gibbons's promise that he would veto some of the tax increases.

Since then, the session has ended and Gibbons has vetoed 48 bills, an all-time state record. Lawmakers overrode more than half of the vetoes.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's numbers remained about the same compared to the last poll. His favorable rating dropped 4 points, to 34 percent. But his unfavorable rating also dropped 4 points, to 46 percent.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.