Poll: Angle leads among GOP to face Reid

** FILE ** Sharron Angle participates in a Republican primary forum for Senate hopefuls Tuesday, May 18, 2010, in Las Vegas. The winner of the primary contest will challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (Associated Press)

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EXCLUSIVE:

Buoyed by endorsement from top conservatives, Sharron Angle has jumped into the lead among Republicans vying in Tuesday’s primary for the right to face off against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this fall, according to a poll released Thursday.

Endorsed by the Tea Party Express and the Club for Growth among others, Mrs. Angle, a former state assemblywoman with a conservative voting record, now leads former Nevada Republican Party Chairman Sue Lowden, according to David Paleologos, who conducted the poll for the Suffolk University Political Research Center.

The possible dethronement of a Democrat whom some political observers regard as the second-most powerful politician the country has drawn attention to a GOP nomination contest that, in the latest poll of 400 likely GOP voters, has the top three contestants in what amounts to a statistical tie, Mr. Paleologos told The Washington Times.

It was understandable that the political world from Las Vegas to New York City was abuzz on Wednesday with rumors that Mrs. Angle had leaped ahead of Mrs. Lowden — long before the Suffolk poll’s release.

** FILE ** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, speaks on health-care reform during a news conference on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Despite giving Mrs. Angle the edge for the nomination, Nevada Republicans think Mrs. Lowden has the best chance of defeating Mr. Reid – a view also held by the GOP establishment in the state.

Mrs. Angle successfully blocked the governor’s proposed $800 million tax increase beginning in 2003 and eventually took the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — and won.

The new poll shows Mrs. Angle at 33 percent, followed by Las Vegas businessman Danny Tarkanian at 26 percent and former Mrs. Lowden, a former Nevada state senator, with 25 percent. Several other GOP primary candidates came in at 4 percent or less.

Although used to prevailing in close general elections, Mr. Reid has a tougher-than-usual-road to hoe this year, placing under 45 percent in hypothetical match-ups against any Republican challenger in polls so far this year.

But Mr. Reid, with $9 million cash on hand according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission, has more than 30 times as much to spend on the election than either Mrs. Angle or Mrs. Lowden.

Mrs. Angle held a slight lead in “voter intensity,” an important predictor of voters behavior.

“Angle has a slightly higher voter intensity than the others do,” Mr. Paleologos said, noting that 53 percent of respondents said they would definitely vote for her, with 33 percent saying probably and 12 percent saying they might change their mind.

As for Mr. Tarkanian, 51 percent said they would definitely vote for him, 36 percent said they probably would and 13 percent indicated they might change their minds.

Mrs. Lowden had 52 saying she would definitely be their choice, while 30 percent said probably but 17 percent -– the highest among the top three candidates — said they might change.

Mrs. Angle’s campaign website boasts endorsements of her by the Tea Party Express, conservative commentator Mark Levin, The Club for Growth, the Concerned Women for America Political Action Committee, Gun Owners of America and “more than 25 others” as well as a “grade A rating from the National Rifle Association Victory Fund.”

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