GOP poll shows Trump dip is hurting Brown in Nevada Senate race

A new Nevada survey could indicate former President Donald Trump ’s lackluster performance in the polls is hurting his party’s chances of flipping a critical Senate seat.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) is swinging her best performance yet against Republican challenger Sam Brown, according to a poll conducted by GOP political strategist Woodrow Johnston and Decipher Ai’s David Wolfson, a pollster and Columbia University lecturer.

Rosen received 51% of support in the poll, while Brown secured roughly 40%. Other polls conducted over the last few months showed a much tighter race between Brown, a retired Army captain who sustained critical injuries in Afghanistan, and his Democratic opponent.

Johnston tied Brown’s decline in the most recent poll to Trump’s apparent dip in Nevada during an interview with the Nevada Independent. The GOP presidential nominee was narrowly favored to win the swing state last month. The latest surveys show Trump is now tied with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“When President Trump was leading in the polls, Capt. Brown was still consistently behind, now that President Trump has dropped, it appears Capt. Brown has dropped even lower,” Johnston said. “There appears to be a correlation at least. Both campaigns have in their communications anchored themselves somewhat to the top of their tickets.”

The Republican strategist held out hope for a GOP turnaround in the battleground state.

“Most of the media attention has been on Vice President Harris ever since the switch was announced,” Johnston said. “President Trump appears to perform best under pressure; with the sentencing coming up Sept. 18, I expect his numbers to bounce back up.”

Although Johnston and Wolfson’s poll is the latest to survey the state of the Nevada Senate race, the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls shows that only 4 percentage points separate Rosen and Brown, indicating the battle between Rosen and Brown remains a nail-biter.

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Additionally, not every poll indicates Brown, a retired Army captain and Purple Heart recipient, has lost ground in the Silver State. In a survey released on Aug. 6 by Redfield and Wilton Strategies, Rosen appears to have bled 2 percentage points of support since the group’s previous poll, leading Brown 41% to 38%.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Brown campaign for comment.