Why One Trump-Leaning Battleground Is Especially Worrisome for Biden

When the country catches a cold, Nevada gets the flu. That’s the common wisdom for the economy in the state, which is heavily dependent on tourism and suffered more than any other from pandemic lockdowns.

The same idea could apply to President Biden’s polling numbers. New surveys by The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College published on Monday showed Mr. Biden trailing former President Donald J. Trump in nearly every battleground state, but he appeared to be in the roughest shape in Nevada, where he was down by 12 percentage points among registered voters.

In Nevada, two of Mr. Biden’s biggest problems — his weakness with Hispanic voters and pessimism over his handling of the economy — seem magnified. With the state’s economy slow to recover from the pandemic, 61 percent of registered voters in the poll said they trusted Mr. Trump to do a better job handling the economy, compared with 32 percent who trusted Mr. Biden. And Hispanic voters, whose support was crucial to Mr. Biden in 2020, said they preferred Mr. Trump to him by nine points in a head-to-head matchup….

Originally Published in The New York Times