Majority of Nevada Voters Disapprove of Trump’s Handling of Economy & Immigration
A new Emerson College Polling survey of the Nevada 2026 election for Governor finds incumbent Republican Joe Lombardo and Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford tied: 41% support each candidate and 18% are undecided.
“With less than a year until Election Day, the first Emerson College poll of Nevada’s governor’s race finds Governor Lombardo in a dead heat with the state’s Attorney General, Aaron Ford,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Lombardo holds an eight-point lead among independents, though 40% remain undecided. Ford’s strengths are among Hispanic voters, who back him by 16 points, and women, who break for the Attorney General by five points.”
Governor Lombardo holds a 34% job approval rating, and 36% disapproval; 30% are neutral or have no opinion on the Governor. U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto hold net negative approval ratings: 31% approve of Cortez Masto and 42% disapprove; 27% are neutral. Twenty-eight percent approve of Rosen, 46% disapprove, and 26% are neutral.
“Senator Cortez Masto and Senator Rosen’s underwater job approval ratings are driven by division within their Democratic base,” Kimball said. “Democrats are split on Cortez Masto, 42% approve to 39% disapprove, and Rosen 42% to 37%. In comparison, Lombardo holds a 66% approval to 12% disapproval rating among Republicans.”
President Donald Trump is also underwater among Nevada voters: 39% approve of the president and 54% disapprove. When it comes to Trump’s handling of immigration, 42% approve and 55% disapprove, compared to 48% approve and 47% disapprove in the November 2025 Arizona poll. On the economy, the President holds a 35% approval rating and 57% disapproval rating, similar to the 38% approval and 54% disapproval among Arizona voters.
Looking ahead to the 2028 presidential nomination contest, California Governor Gavin Newsom leads the Democratic primary field at 37%, followed by former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg at 19%, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 9%, and former Vice President Kamala Harris at 6%. Fourteen percent are undecided.
Vice President JD Vance holds a majority support among Republican primary voters at 63%, while 7% support Secretary of State Marco Rubio and 6% Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Twelve percent are undecided.
The top issue for Nevada voters is the economy (39%), followed by housing affordability at 16%. The economy and housing affordability remain top issues in the state: prior to the 2024 election, the economy was the top issue in Nevada at 40% and housing affordability at 13%.
“No tax on tips” has made no impact for 48% of Nevada voters, a positive impact for 40%, and a negative impact for 12%. Those without a college degree are more likely to say it made a positive impact at 44%, compared to those with a college degree at 32% positive impact.
“No tax on tips shows a clear partisan divide,” Kimball noted. “Democrats are split, 19% say it has a negative impact, 14% say positive, and 67% say no impact. Republicans lean strongly the other way, with 68% saying it has a positive impact, 5% negative, and 27% no impact. Independents fall in between: 40% say positive, 12% negative, and 48% see no impact.”
METHODOLOGY
The Emerson College Polling Nevada survey was conducted November 16-18, 2025. The sample of active registered voters, n=800, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3.4 percentage points. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting a voter list of cellphones via MMS-to-web text of an opt-in probability panel of voters provided by the Consensus Panel, and additional online panel interviews provided by CINT. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with the exact wording, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found under Full Results. This survey was funded by Emerson College.
