Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

“Let’s not pretend [Trump] wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

“But what about the lurkers?”

People are weird.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

Everybody saw this coming.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Democrats are back in array!

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

You are here: Home / Politics / Political Action / Let’s Talk About Nevada, Part 1

Let’s Talk About Nevada, Part 1

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Nevada is shaping up to be a key state this year, even with just 6 electoral votes.

So let’s talk about Nevada, starting with organized labor – their take on the lay of the land in Nevada and what they are doing about it.

Organized Labor Hits the Bricks for Nevada Democrats  (from the folks at electoral-vote.com)

Nevada’s a tricky state for the Democrats this year. First of all, it’s fairly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Second, its economy is based primarily on tourism. That means that when gas prices soar, or when people tighten their belts in anticipation of a recession, or when food prices go up, Nevada is particularly hard-hit.

All of this has union leadership in the Silver State very nervous. They don’t see good things in the future if Republicans take over most or all political offices. However, they also know that when things get bad, voters tend to adopt a “throw the bums out” mentality. If so, that could cost the Democrats a U.S. Senate seat (the one Catherine Cortez Masto is running for reelection to) and up to three House seats (the ones that Dina Titus, Susie Lee, and Steven Horsford are trying to hold on to).

To that end, the largest union in Nevada—the Culinary Union—is taking action. It is subsidizing 100 union members so that they can take leave from their regular jobs and can spend the next several months canvassing. Their primary tasks are to: (1) make the case that inflation is not the Democrats’ fault, and (2) brag about the Inflation Reduction Act. They’ve knocked on 50,000 doors so far and hope to run that total to 100,000 by the end of August. They are particularly targeting Latino voters, who are the fastest-growing demographic in the state.

We do not know how much this will help, but it will certainly help some. And if the Democrats do lose the House this cycle, it won’t be for lack of ground game in Nevada (and Georgia, and North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, etc.) (Z)

Sneak Peek: I know I had said that the VAAC fundraising would be the last big fundraising effort with a targeted amount to raise this year, but I contacted Four Directions about Nevada, and they have found us a double-match if we can raise $25,000.  They are starting to put boots on the ground and $75,000 will go a long way!

Are we up for it?

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    Part of what we need to do in November is put up firewalls so we won’t have Republican crazies who will put up alternate slates of electors to override the will of the people.  Nevada is one of those states and so is Arizona.  More to come on that.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    This post isn’t just about fundraising, I am hoping we can talk about why Nevada matters.  I added the Four Directions information in this post as an afterthought.

  5. 5.

    Redshift

    Absolutely up for it. I hope there are people following Spanish-language outlets and forums to monitor and counter GOP disinformation. If what I read after 2020 is accurate, it seems like that has been a real blind spot that’s part of the stronger than expected Latino support for Republicans.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Almost Retired has a connection to someone in AZ who has a connection to the union Unite Here voter turnout project.  We hope to be talking with them this week about contacts with chapters in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

  13. 13.

    bk

    I live here.  If you want to get depressed, go see some of the comments on Masto’s (or Jackie Rosen’s) Facebook page.  A bunch of mouthbreathers.

  16. 16.

    eclare

    @WaterGirl:   As Lester said in The Wire, which I hope you are still watching, *all* the pieces matter.

    I cannot be in for much, I am getting a new roof, but I could chip in.

  19. 19.

    Another Scott

    My understanding is that Democrats didn’t have much of a ground game in 2020 (compared to normal cycles) because we took COVID-19 seriously. I assume that we’ll be back to normal GOTV and that Democrats will be energized with COVID-19 beaten back a lot. We have to fight for every seat, but I really like our chances.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  21. 21.

    BlueGuitarist

    Lots of important elections in Nevada this year!

    Democrats hold 3 US House seats, the US Senate seat up this year (Catherine Cortez-Masto), and the Governor’s office: all rated toss-up; plus elections for Attorney General and Secretary of State.

    Democrats hold narrow majorities in the state assembly and state senate, with a few more pick up opportunities than seats to defend.

    Nevada is the only state where women are a majority in both houses of the state legislature.

    Some overlapping seats: NV Assembly-02 a good pick up opportunity, overlaps NV Senate-08 the most important seat to defend, and US House NV-03, the most vulnerable of the US House seats.

    The unions are crucial for success.

  27. 27.

    Will

    Nevada is one of the few states I am worried about. I think we’ll get both in PA & AZ, maybe same in GA & WI.

    One of my good friends moved there. His family is Latino. Last time we talked with them, they both had gone from staunch Democrats to debating voting Republican this year. It’s not a guarantee that they will, it just seemed like they were open to it.

    It wasn’t like they were rah rah or even defending Republicans. They just seemed tired and for whatever reason they’ve come to blame the Democrats for that. I don’t live in Nevada so I don’t know what the dynamic of that region whereas I am super confident about the local politics of Pennsylvania. People say any dip in tourism hurts the state hard, but neither is in tourism but maybe it could be from knowing people in their circle that are? I’ve been genuinely confused by this reversal in politics.

  28. 28.

    gene108

    @Redshift:

    Absolutely up for it. I hope there are people following Spanish-language outlets and forums to monitor and counter GOP disinformation. If what I read after 2020 is accurate, it seems like that has been a real blind spot that’s part of the stronger than expected Latino support for Republicans.

    Democrats need to figure out their Hispanic outreach in a much more targeted fashion. This is what Republicans started doing after 2016.

    I’m not sure how much of Republicans focus on and ability to reach Tejanos in Texas, for example, comes from what they learned from Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 election, when CA worked for the Trump campaign, about data mining social media posts to figure out how to micro target prospective voters.

  31. 31.

    Eyeroller

    The Spanish pronunciation would be more like Ne VAH dah so I suppose the Anglo version Ne VA da is considered more correct.  It means “snowy mountains.”

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    @gene108: One thing that hurt Democrats in 2020 is that the Biden campaign only started raising big bucks in August. They knew about Republican micro-targeting of Spanish speaking communities but had to get in the game late and play catch up. Republican social media efforts with these communities had started in fall of 2019. There should be a more level playing field this cycle and the next.

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    I am at a client dinner and I would much rather be eating a rice bowl in my PJs by myself.

  35. 35.

    wonkie

    I have written five hundred GOTV letters to NV addresses for Vote Forward. So that’s another option for helping out.

    Also if you live in Nevada, write a letter to the editor of the local paper. People who read the paper will read the letter. It gives you a way to talk to people that you don’t know.

  41. 41.

    J R in WV

    We have been monthly contributors to Four Directions since long many years ago. They do great work in AZ, where we have a second home we haven’t used in years now.

    I don’t know how to get that monthly Act Blue event directed to B-J fund raising, if anyone has an easy way let me know.

  42. 42.

    Geminid

    Ballotpedia’s article on this years Nevada Senate race had an interesting fact: half of Nevada’s currently registered voters were not on the voting rolls when Catherine Cortez-Masto won her seat in 2016. A reflection of the state’s population turnover.

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: I guess all the new voters are a challenge for both parties, and an advantage for the one with a better voter registrationoperation. The Ballotpedia author said they made predicting outcomes tougher. They also said it might be a factor in how close elections tend to be. Jackie Rosen won her election by 5 points, but Catherine Cortez-Masto won her first election in 2016 by ~2.5%. Clinton and Biden also carried the state by ~2.5%.

  51. 51.

    eachother

    I’ll contribute too.
    Pronunciation of Nevada suggests  where the pronouncer may be from. East or west.
    The money is neutral on the matter.

    Great idea WaterGirl. Thank you.

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