Republican poll shows Heller up slightly

The latest poll in the early-season U.S. Senate race skirmishing between favorites Shelley Berkley and Dean Heller is a Republican survey that shows Heller up slightly.

The poll conducted by The Tarrance Group shows Heller with a 4 percentage point lead, 48 percent to 44 percent, over Berkley with 8 percent undecided.

The survey of 501 "likely" registered voters was conducted July 12-13. The margin of error was plus/minus 4.5 percentage points. 

Heller’s 4-percentage point margin is within the error margin, a statistical tie that suggests — as have other polls — the race will be a close one.

Earlier polls include this one.

And this one.

In the latest survey, Heller, a U.S. House member who was appointed to the Senate in May to replace the scandal-departed John Ensign, "holds a double-digit lead" over Democrat Berkley in "every region of the state except for Clark County," according to a poll memo written by Tarrance partner Dave Sackett.

In Clark County, by far the most populous and Berkley’s base as a U.S. House member, she holds an 8-point advantage.

The poll information circulated by Republicans did not include the wording of the questions or further crosstab details. 

Also, Berkley faces a primary opponent in Las Vegas millionaire attorney and entrepreneur Byron Georgiou, a largely self-funded candidate so far.

According to the GOP poll findings, the political environment in Nevada these days "strongly favors" Republicans. 

According to the memo,  half of voters disapprove of President Barack Obama’s job performance while 51 percent indicate they disapprove of the job being done by the state’s senior senator and Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.