Nevada moderates back Titus, Gibbons wins rural vote

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Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006 | 3:02 a.m.

Key findings in an exit poll of Nevada voters:

GOVERNOR'S RACE: Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus won support from union members and moderates, while Republican U.S. Rep. Gibbons did better among rural Nevada voters and those who support the Iraq war. Both candidates won more than 8 in 10 votes from their own parties.

SENATE RACE: More than 7 in 10 who voted in the U.S. Senate race said the issue of illegal immigration was "very" or "extremely important," while 8 in 10 said the same thing about the economy. The son of former President Jimmy Carter, Jack Carter, polled well among moderates. Carter received the vote of 7 in 10 people who opposed Bush and the war in Iraq, while Republican incumbent Sen. John Ensign took in nearly 9 in 10 supporters of Bush and the war in Iraq.

IRAQ FACTOR: Two out of five voters approved of the war in Iraq and supported President Bush.

REID REVIEW: About half of the voters approved of the job performance of Sen. Harry Reid, who was not up for re-election. Two of five disapproved.

POST-9/11: About half of Nevadans said the country is safer from terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001.

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Exit poll conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Media Research/Mitofsky International among 1,372 voters around Nevada, most of them as they left 20 randomly selected precincts Tuesday. A telephone survey also was conducted during the past week among 703 absentee or early voters. Margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the overall sample, larger for subgroups.