Democrat Arballo gains on Nunes: internal poll

Democrat Phil Arballo has cut Rep. Devin Nunes’s (R-Calif.) lead in half and trails the incumbent by only 5 points with a month to go before Election Day, according to internal polling conducted on behalf of Arballo’s campaign.

The survey, conducted by Strategies 360 Research, finds Nunes at 51 percent support and Arballo at 46 percent support. The survey has a 4.9 percentage point margin of error.

The same poll from late June found Nunes at 51 percent and Arballo at 42 percent.

The poll’s sample is 45 percent Republican, 35 percent Democrat and 20 percent no party preference (NPP). The NPPs, who favor Democrats by only 6 points in the generic ballot, break for Arballo 56 to 39. A majority of NPPs, 56 percent, view Nunes negatively. Fifty-one percent of NPPs view President Trump negatively.

“Devin Nunes’ decades in Washington have changed him,” said Taylor Bollhagen, Arballo’s campaign manager. “He’s voted to rip away protections for pre-existing conditions and has sold out his constituents to the highest bidder, which has come at the cost of Central Valley families’ respect. Phil is going to win this election and bring common sense representation back to the district.”

Nunes, who has represented the Fresno district for more than 20 years, defeated Democrat Andrew Janz by 5 points in 2018. He carried the district by 35 points in 2016.

Nunes was the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee during Trump’s first two years in office, when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress.

The Strategies 360 poll of 400 likely voters in California’s 22nd Congressional District was conducted between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1.