In Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Tennessee, and Wisconsin—five of the top battleground states for Senate elections this fall—health care is a primary issue for voters looking ahead to their vote for in the upcoming election. That’s according to the latest from PPP, and reinforces their exit polling from Democrats Conor Lamb’s victory in the Pennsylvania special election last week and the exit polling from the Virginia governor’s race, won by Democrat Ralph Northam, last fall.
So this puts the spotlight on the most vulnerable Republican, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV). Back when he was trying to fend off a primary from Trump favorite Danny Tarkanian, decided to tie himself to a Trumpcare proposal to destroy Obamacare. He signed on to a bill that would replace the Affordable Care Act with block grants to states. That went nowhere, except perhaps for making Trump think more kindly toward Heller. He intervened, and got Tarkanian to leave the primary race.
That decision to go far-right on healthcare (after a long and embarrassing series of flip-flops that lasted all last summer and fall) might have appeased Trump, but is not likely to sit well with Nevada voters. Here's the latest from PPP on healthcare polling, specifically in Nevada.
NEVADA: Health care is ranked as a top issue for 65% of voters (27% saying it is the most important issue and another 38% saying it is very important). Only 14% say it is not that important or not important at all. […]
Nevada voters disapprove of the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act by 7 points (42% to 49%). Among independent voters, the disparity is even wider with only 30% supporting the GOP’s health care repeal efforts to 58% opposing them. […]
Only 40% of voters think the best path forward on health care is to repeal the Affordable Care Act, to 55% who think it should be kept in place with fixes made to it as necessary.
And this: "In a hypothetical US Senate election matchup, voters prefer Democrat Jacky Rosen over Republican Dean Heller 44-39. Among voters who say that health care is the most important issue, Rosen's lead grows to 61-21 over Heller."
Rosen hasn't won the primary yet, though it looks likely, and she could strengthen and already good position against Heller to keep a focus on healthcare. Looking deeper into the poll, Heller's approval rating is a dismal 28 percent, and for all his courting of Trump, he doesn't get majority support from Trump voters—just 48 percent. Rosen leads Heller among women, 43 to 36, and Latino voters, 53 to 49 percent.
Heller is definitely in trouble here. Let's make it worse for him.
Heller is the most vulnerable Republican senator, so let's pile on. Please contribute $3 to the fund to get rid of him.