(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Republican candidates challenging for Senate seats in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin have jumped in popularity with voters in new polling, leaving their Democrat opponents searching for answers and coming up short.
In Nevada, former attorney general Republican Adam Laxalt’s focus on law and order is proving more effective than incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto’s push for abortions and illegal immigration.
Election forecasting site FiveThirtyEight showed that Laxalt overtook Cortez Masto late last week for the first time since May, reported the Daily Wire. Laxalt’s lead ranged from 1 to 4 percentage points in five polls, with one conducted by The Trafalgar Group from Sept. 17-20 showing Laxalt beating Cortez Masto 47% to 43%.
“These polls capture what we are seeing on the ground here in Nevada,” Laxalt said in a statement.
“Between surging inflation, rising violent crime, the effects of an open border, and record-high gas prices, Nevadans are fed up with the failed Biden/Cortez Masto agenda and are ready for change,” Laxalt said.
The focus on those key issues is similarly gaining traction for Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who has consistently closed the gap in Nevada’s gubernatorial race. FiveThirtyEight’s average has Lombardo down just .3% to incumbent Democrat Steve Sisolak.
Republicans have notched similar gains on the heels of embattled leftists in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where soft-on-crime policies and pro-abortion agendas being pushed by Democrat candidates are falling flat with voters.
After trailing during most of the campaign season in Wisconsin, incumbent GOP Sen. Ron Johnson has pulled ahead of Democrat Mandela Barnes by as much as 5% in one poll, leads by 4% in another and 2% in two other polls, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Johnson’s lead comes as more than 60% of Wisconsin voters said they are “very concerned” about crime, according to a Marquette University poll.
That didn’t surprise the president of the Kenosha Professional Police Association Board, which endorsed Johnson last month.
“He has shown and said things that prove he does not support law enforcement,” Pete Deates told the Washington Free Beacon about the former lieutenant governor Barnes, who blamed police for the 2020 BLM and Antifa riots that rocked Kenosha and has backed radical no-cash bail policies.
Watch and share with friends in Wisconsin.
Mandela Barnes supports the policy that let the alleged Waukesha killer (a career criminal) avoid jail.
Barnes isn’t just soft-on-crime—he’s pro-criminal. pic.twitter.com/tXmkjn4VB3
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) September 30, 2022
The same anti-law enforcement positions have decimated Pennsylvania Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s once impressive double-digit lead in the state’s race to fill the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.
Emerson College Polling’s latest release showed a statistical dead heat, with 43% of likely voters backing Republican Mehmet Oz, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, while 45% support Fetterman.
NEW POLL by Emerson College
PA SENATE
(D) John Fetterman 45% (+2)
(R) Mehmet Oz 43%Independents
(R) Mehmet Oz 46% (+12)
(D) John Fetterman 34%⚪ Sept 23-26
⚪ 1,000 very likely voters
⚪ Sample: D41/R36/I23https://t.co/rpQBBmAOXJ pic.twitter.com/bZ8gg5vcnK— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September 30, 2022
“Oz should not be dismissed,” wrote Free Beacon columnist Matthew Continetti
“The polls show him moving in the right direction. His opponent’s personal health and stances on drugs and criminal justice are big vulnerabilities.”
