Democrats may not lose their Senate majority, but they appear in danger of losing their Senate majority leader. Less than a week before Election Day, Democrat Harry Reid trails Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle in Nevada by 4 points, according to a TIME/CNN/Opinion Research survey that shows the GOP with late-in-the-cycle leads in four key Senate battleground states.
In each of those contests, Republican candidates are buoyed by big leads among independent voters. Despite trailing in Nevada's two most populous counties, Angle boasts a 15-point lead over Reid among independents and sizable margins among males, white voters and voters over 50, giving her a 49%-45% cushion overall. Angle has padded her lead in the race's closing stages; a TIME/CNN/Opinion Research poll earlier this month put her edge at 2 points, a tally within the margin of error. In the latest poll, Nevada Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian drew 2% in the race, less than in previous surveys.