Poll: Bernstein closing on Ensign

Launce Rake and Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.

A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee poll of 500 likely voters in Nevada showed that trial lawyer Ed Bernstein is rapidly closing on the front-runner, former Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev.

The poll, which gives a heady boost to a campaign once lagging by 20 points, shows Bernstein 4 percentage points behind Ensign, 37 percent to 41 percent.

The new numbers have helped Bernstein's fund-raising effort, said Sen. Richard Bryan, the Nevada Democrat who is leaving the Senate seat.

A fund-raising luncheon today in Washington, D.C., that was expected to raise $15,000 instead brought in $35,000, Bryan said.

"Ed Bernstein is the hottest race in the U.S. Senate today," he said. "Nevada is all of the sudden very much in play."

Until now, Senate Democrats had figured Bernstein to be a long shot. Bryan said the candidate should be flush with new money as the poll numbers rise.

"That's the only thing that could have held him back is that he didn't get the funds," he said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Bernstein is benefiting from a national wave that also is lifting Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore.

He called the Nevada Senate race "a dead heat."

"We knew this thing would close based on the issues, and it's certainly starting to do that," said Kelley Benander, Bernstein's campaign communications director.

The "issues" strategy includes television ads attacking Ensign's pro-life position on abortion.

Those ads have hurt the Ensign, said Pete Ernaut, Ensign campaign chairman. He suggested that turnabout is fair play.

"Unfortunately, negative ads work," he said. "Understand that both sides have the capability of attacking.

"We will vigorously defend ourselves," Ernaut said.

The poll was conducted Monday and Sunday by Democratic pollsters the Mellman Group, and has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.

"There is strong indication that Ensign's extreme position on issues such as abortion may be alienating swing voters and women," the company said in its analysis of the poll numbers.

Among independents Bernstein holds a 9-point lead and among moderates he has a 15-point lead, the poll found.

But it isn't all good news for the Bernstein camp. Ensign leads by 16 percentage points among men, and Bernstein's unfavorable rating is slightly higher than Ensign's -- 31 percent to 27 percent.

But the Mellman Group poll shows an even tighter race than the chamber poll, which said Ensign's lead was about 10 percentage points -- 50 percent to 39.7 percent -- over Bernstein.

"There's going to be a lot of polls," Ernaut said. "Nobody should get overly excited about the ebbs and flows.

"We feel very confident about our position," he said.

The Bernstein campaign will continue to hit Ensign on issues that include abortion rights, health care and prescription benefits for seniors, Benander said.

"We are very happy with the momentum right now."