Nevada Isn't Blue, It's a Battleground for the Senate in 2024

In the 2022 Election, the nation anxiously waited for Nevada to count the votes to learn which party would control the US Senate. Republican candidate Adam Laxalt, a former state Attorney General, lost by less than one percentage point to incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D).

Headed into 2024, there is another Senate seat up for grabs.

This week, it was reported that the Democrats are concerned that Nevada voters may not pay attention to Sen. Jacky Rosen’s re-election campaign, particularly since the state has flown under the political radar in the past. In the absence of pickup opportunities, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has said it will prioritize incumbent Democrats. Donors are likely to be split between the presidential race and the Senate races, which could make it difficult for Rosen to get resources, or the attention her team is worried about.

There’s a question looming about if Nevadans even know who she is.

National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said:

Jacky Rosen should be worried since she’s a generic Democrat who most Nevadans couldn’t pick out of a lineup.

The upcoming election is competitive for Democrats in many states, including Ohio, Montana, and West Virginia. The only hope for the party in the latter state is Sen. Joe Manchin, but he has not confirmed his candidacy. Republicans are also targeting Arizona, where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is running for re-election after changing her party registration from Democrat to Independent.

For Republicans, Nevada is seen as a big opportunity to deliver the Senate, Abboud says:

Nevada is trending red and is a top pick-up opportunity for Republicans.

In recent years, Nevada has been considered a safe state for Democrats, with a Democrat-controlled legislature and two Democrats representing the state in the Senate. However, Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo won the executive office in 2022. Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto barely eked out a win, and Rosen herself only won the 2018 Senate race by a narrow margin.

One of the Republicans positioned to challenge Rosen is Captain Sam Brown, a Purple Heart recipient and small-business owner who lost to Laxalt in the 2022 primary. Other potential candidates include April Becker, an attorney who previously ran competitive campaigns against the state Senate Majority Leader, and for Nevada’s third Congressional District. State Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert has also been rumored to have interest in the seat. Learning from lessons in 2022, when many Trump-backed candidates in Nevada failed in their bids for office, Republicans are likely to prioritize moderate candidates who have the resources to fund their own campaigns.

Rosen actively promotes her record upon abortion rights, and Nevada Dems leaned into similar hyperbole in 2022. However, it’s a dishonest position because Nevada secured an abortion access law through reverse referendum in 1990, which would require a ballot question to overturn. And, Nevada enjoys robust cannabis and brothel industries, demonstrating that the state doesn’t need federal permission to execute its own laws.

While the political parties gear up for a fight over the coveted control of Congress’s upper chamber, one thing is clear: Nevada isn’t blue. Nevada is a battleground.