Poll shows Ross, Fiore in tight race for Las Vegas council

Michele Fiore and Kelli Ross (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

A poll commissioned by Kelli Ross’ campaign contends she and Michele Fiore are neck and neck in the race to represent Las Vegas Ward 6.

Ross and Fiore are tied at 41 percent, with 18 percent undecided, according to the poll conducted by Democratic polling firm Anzalone Liszt Grove Research.

“She has nowhere to go but down, and I have nowhere to go but up,” Ross said.

Ryan Hamilton, Fiore’s campaign manager, called it “more punch line than poll” to suggest Ross has gained 10 percentage points and Fiore has lost five since the April 4 primary “with no justification for the change.”

Fiore drew 46 percent of primary votes, compared with nearly 31 percent for Ross. A candidate could have sealed victory in the primary by receiving more than 50 percent of votes cast, but because no one crossed that threshold, the top two vote-getters in the field of nine will meet in a June 13 runoff.

The results suggest that while Fiore, a former state Assemblywoman, has greater name recognition, “Ross is clearly poised to grow her support as more voters become familiar with her over the coming weeks,” according to a summary of the results.

The poll was done from April 18 to 20 through live interviews with 280 likely general election voters. The poll has an expected margin of error of 5.8 percentage points.

When Ross was identified as a Democrat and Fiore was identified as a Republican, Ross polled at 47 percent to Fiore’s 44 percent, the results state. City elections are officially nonpartisan.

Hamilton pointed to the district’s trend of backing GOP candidates, including President Donald Trump and former U.S. Senate candidate Joe Heck in November, as an indication Fiore has the advantage.

“If Kelli Ross thinks there’s an advantage to being a Democrat in a district like that, it’s even more proof the poll is not worth the paper it’s printed on,” Hamilton said.

Public Policy Polling conducted a poll in early March, a month before the primary, in which 36 percent of respondents favored Fiore and 27 percent favored Ross.

Early voting begins May 27.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.