GOP Poll: Republicans Adam Laxalt, Herschel Walker Leading Democrat Opponents in Senate Battlegrounds

Republicans Adam Laxalt and Herschel Walker, who are vying to unseat Democrat incumbents in Nevada and Georgia, respectively, are leading in their races, according to a Republican polling memo sent out on Tuesday and obtained by Breitbart News.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign arm of U.S. Senate Republicans, sent the memo to “interested supporters,” revealing in it that the pair of Republican candidates held narrow leads over Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) amid President Joe Biden’s dismal approval ratings. NBC News first reported on the memo.

Laxalt, who previously served as Nevada attorney general, had a four-point edge over Cortez Masto, 46 percent to 42 percent, according to the memo. Laxalt’s lead coincided with 39 percent of the poll respondents approving of the way Biden was handling his job and 56 percent disapproving. 29 percent of Nevadans said they believed the country was heading in the right direction.

In Georgia, football legend Walker held a one-point lead over Warnock, 49 percent to 48 percent. Biden’s job approval rating was only slightly better in Georgia, where 42 percent approved of his job handling and 55 percent disapproved. Right in line with Nevada were the percentage of Georgians — 28 percent — who thought the country was heading in the right direction.

Laxalt and Walker are both favored to win their Republican primary races, according to current fundraising and polling numbers.

NRSC Executive Director Jackie Schutz Zeckman expressed optimism in the memo, describing the polling results as “exciting” and an indication of “momentum” as Republicans gear up for what could be nine contentious races next year in their quest to take majority of the Senate, which is currently split dead evenly at 50–50.

Laxalt, too, has conveyed confidence in Republicans’ position ahead of next year’s races, posting a photo on social media in November of himself and Walker saying they were the “51st and 52nd Senator for the next GOP majority.”

Though both carried name recognition in their states ahead of launching their bids for office, Laxalt and Walker have been further elevated by endorsements from former President Donald Trump.

Trump endorsed Laxalt in August, praising the former attorney general for serving in the Navy in Iraq and for fighting “valiantly against Election Fraud,” as well as for his stance on issues including crime and border security. Trump endorsed Walker in September, saying the former star athlete “embodies ‘America First’ and the winning spirit of Georgia.”

In the NRSC memo, Zeckman also drew a correlation between the current president’s unpopularity and the midterm elections, specifically pointing to Biden’s multitrillion-dollar legislative agenda, surging violent crime in urban areas, and an overwhelmed southern border, where border patrol officials are nearing a jaw-dropping two million illegal migrant encounters in 2021.

“Democrat incumbents have supported the liberal Biden agenda of trillions of dollars in new inflation-inducing spending, higher taxes for middle-class families and job creators, rampant crime, an out-of-control border crisis, and foreign policy disasters across the globe,” Zeckman wrote. “Voters are holding them accountable.”

She added that “Republican candidates are well-positioned to take advantage of the current political environment and the NRSC, bolstered by our record-breaking fundraising, will do whatever is needed to support our candidates across the country and define the Democrats early.”

The Nevada poll was conducted by the Tarrance Group from November 14 to 17 with a sample size of 600. The Georgia poll was conducted by McLaughlin & Associates from December 4 to 8 with a sample size of 800.