From: Tom Jensen, Public Policy Polling
To: Interested Parties
Subject: Health Care Fueled Rosen’s Election in Nevada
Date: November 7, 2018
A Public Policy Polling election day survey of Nevada voters found that health care was the top issue for voters in the state — and that they overwhelmingly favored Democrats on it, propelling Jacky Rosen to victory:
–65% of voters said that health care was either a very important issue, or the most important issue to them. Those voters supported Rosen over Dean Heller 68-28.
-When asked to name the single issue most important to them in 2018, a plurality (30%) picked health care compared to 29% for immigration, 11% for taxes, 11% for the Supreme Court and 7% for security and crime. Among those voters who said health care was their single most important issue in the election, Rosen defeated Heller by a whopping 92-8 margin.
-Rosen especially had an advantage over Heller when it came to the issue of who voters trusted more to protect people with pre-existing conditions. 49% preferred Rosen on that to only 32% for Heller.
–Dean Heller’s support for the Republican health care repeal agenda hurt him badly. Only 33% of voters said his support for repeal made them more likely to vote for him, to 42% who said it made them less likely to.
-Heller’s stance on health care was also a high visibility issue in the race. 58% of voters said they had seen, heard, or read a lot about Heller’s position on health care recently and among those voters 59% said most of what they’d seen was negative to only 16% who said most of it was positive.
-An overwhelming majority of Nevadans want to see the Affordable Care Act stay in place– 61% think it should be kept with fixes made to it as necessary, compared to only 33% of voters who support repealing it.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 618 voters on election day in Nevada via telephone. The survey’s margin of error is +/-3.9%.