Republicans hope to flip Democratic seats in Nevada

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Oct. 31.

STATE STATS

Voter makeup: Nearly 2 million people were registered as active voters in Nevada as of Oct. 1, according to the secretary of state’s office. About 593,000 were registered as Democrats, while about 574,000 were registered as Republicans. More than 663,000 were registered as nonpartisan, representing about 33 percent of voters, and the remaining voters registered as independents, Libertarians, or other. 

Voting: Nevada lawmakers in 2021 passed a law to send all registered voters a ballot by mail. Absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and voters can opt out of the automatic service.

The state allows same-day registration for citizens with a valid Nevada driver’s license or ID card who vote in person at polling locations. Nevada also allows 17-year-old residents to preregister to vote so they are automatically registered on their 18th birthday.

PRESIDENTIAL

President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump in Nevada in 2020 by only 33,596 votes. Nevada has six electoral college votes. The Cook Political Report in July moved the state from a toss-up to leaning Republican. A Republican presidential candidate has not carried the state in 20 years.

Biden received 112,611 votes in the February Democratic primary, winning 89 percent of the vote. After the president dropped out of the race, all of Nevada’s delegates unanimously backed Vice President Kamala Harris as the party nominee at the Democratic National Convention in July.

Meanwhile, Nevada held both a Republican caucus and a Republican primary in February, but only the caucus awarded delegates. Trump secured 26 delegates when he won 99 percent of the caucus vote. More than 60 percent of the Nevada voters who participated in the symbolic primary selected an option titled “None of These Candidates.” Trump earlier chose not to appear on the primary ballot. Then-candidate Nikki Haley received just over 30 percent of the primary vote.

SENATE

While the Cook Political Report still says Nevada’s Senate seat “leans Democrat,” the state is edging into swing-state territory as Trump’s margins narrow in each election. If he sweeps the state, that could boost the Republican challenger for the Senate seat. It is one of the main ones Senate Republicans are working to flip this election cycle.

• Democratic incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen, 66, first took office in 2019 and previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019. Before entering politics, Rosen worked as a computer software engineer. She is leading efforts to prevent members of Congress from receiving paychecks if they fail to pass a budget on time and has prioritized expanding access to affordable healthcare and housing. She is also staunchly pro-abortion and helped introduce the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would enshrine abortion access into federal law.

• Republican retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, 40, will challenge Rosen. In June, he beat 11 other Republican candidates in Nevada running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. While serving in Afghanistan in 2008, Brown was severely injured when a bomb detonated under his vehicle. He earned a Purple Heart and was medically retired as a captain. Brown started a business providing emergency pharmaceutical support to veterans before he unsuccessfully ran for Nevada’s other Senate seat in 2022. Brown is outspoken about his professed faith as a Christian. He is running on plans to improve the state’s economy, stop illegal immigration, and expand school choice. Former President Donald Trump and other top Republican leaders endorsed him in this year’s election. In the primary, he beat Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland, Jeff Gunter.

• Seven other candidates for the Senate seat will appear on the ballot in November, including representatives from the Independent American Party and the Libertarian Party.

U.S. HOUSE

 Three of Nevada’s congressional seats are held by Democrats and one is held by a Republican. The National Republican Congressional Committee, or NRCC, is targeting the three Nevada seats held by Democrats as part of a broader effort to strengthen the Republican majority in the House. Nationwide, the NRCC is targeting 37 seats that in 2022 either attracted major outside spending or had a Democratic candidate win by a slim margin.

• Democratic incumbent Rep. Dina Titus, 74, will defend her 1st District seat against seven other candidates. Titus has held the position since 2013 and her seat is one of 37 that the NRCC is targeting to flip in 2024. Republican Army veteran Mark Robertson, 64, is challenging Titus for the office for the second time after she beat him in 2022 with 51.6 percent of the vote to his 46 percent. He is a member of the Latter-day Saints religious group.

• Republican incumbent Rep. Mark Amodei, 66, is running for reelection in the 2nd District after he first assumed the office in 2011. No Democratic candidates filed to challenge Amodei, but he will face three candidates from other parties in November.

• Nevada’s 3rd District is another NRCC target. Democratic incumbent Rep. Susie Lee, 57, assumed office in 2019 and will face Republican challenger Drew Johnson. Johnson, 44, founded the Beacon Center of Tennessee think tank and was a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research. He beat former state Treasurer Dan Schwartz, 73, and former state Sen. Elizabeth Helgelien, 41, in the Republican primary.

• In the 4th District, Democratic incumbent Rep. Steven Horsford, 51, is running against three candidates from the Republican, Independent American, and Libertarian parties. The NRCC again hopes to flip it to Republican control. Republican candidate John Lee, 68, is the former mayor of North Las Vegas.

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS

• Nevada’s Supreme Court consists of seven judges, three of whom are up for reelection this year. All three are running unopposed. Five of the current judges were elected in nonpartisan elections, while the other two were appointed by governors in 2016 and 2022. In Nevada, justices serve six-year terms, and the governor appoints a justice when there is a vacancy on the bench.

BALLOT MEASURES

Nevada has six statewide measures on the ballot in November, two of which are constitutional amendments.

• The Better Voting Nevada Initiative amendment would establish new election formats: Open top-five vote for primary elections and ranked-choice voting for general elections. The amendment would apply to congressional and state elections. Nevada would be the third state to establish ranked-choice voting behind Maine and Alaska.

• The Nevada Reproductive Rights Amendment would enshrine abortion access into the state’s constitution. The measure would only protect babies after the point in pregnancy when they would most likely survive outside the womb, according to the amendment. Abortions would be permitted at any time if a physician deems it necessary to protect the health of the mother. Under current state law, abortions that are found to be medically necessary are allowed on babies up until 18 weeks of gestation.

Dig deeper:

• Read my report about Sam Brown winning the primary Republican senate election.

• Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about Trump clinching the Nevada Republican primary.

• Read Mary Muncy’s report from last year about Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signing a pro-abortion law.

• Read Leo Briceno’s explainer on ranked-choice voting.

Visit the WORLD Election Center 2024 to follow our state-by-state coverage between now and November.