LAS VEGAS — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are coming here today. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Sam Brown would like to hitch a ride.
With five days until Election Day, the vulnerable Democratic incumbent and her GOP challenger are both looking to the top of the ticket for a much-needed boost. The presidential nominees — both of whom are rallying in the Las Vegas area — provide unique benefits to each candidate, even at this late stage.
Rosen has been leading Brown in most public polls. And like other Senate GOP candidates, Brown is lagging behind Trump. So his visit undoubtedly benefits Brown.
Harris’ trip comes as Republicans have seen surprisingly strong early-voting data, prompting a last-minute ad buy from the Senate GOP leadership-aligned super PAC and a raft of top Republicans descending on the Silver State. So Rosen needs Harris to help juice turnout too.
“This is Nevada. Anybody who’s lived here a long time knows… we’re not just the battle-born state, we’re the battleground state,” Rosen told us Wednesday after speaking at an event in East Las Vegas. “We know races tighten up here. But Nevadans have a choice.”
Sprint to the finish: Rosen believes she can hold off Brown, but she knows it’ll be close. After all, just two years ago, Republicans flipped the governor’s mansion and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) only won by a slim 8,000-vote margin.
Senate Republicans had high hopes for Brown, a gravely wounded combat veteran whose backstory was sure to inspire voters. But Rosen has proven to be a formidable opponent despite Nevada’s longer-term trend toward Republicans.
There’s also the fact that the post-pandemic economic recovery has been much slower in Nevada than elsewhere in the country, which hurts Democrats. Plus, Brown has sought to tie Rosen to the Biden administration’s record on inflation and the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We still have a lot more work to do,” Rosen said. “But I am rated one of the most bipartisan, effective, independent senators… My motto is: Agree where you can and fight where you must.”
Through that mix of bipartisan cred and capitalizing on the state’s abortion rights ballot initiative, Rosen has put herself in a strong position to win. But whether she can beat back a last-minute surge of GOP resources is an entirely different question.
Democrats need Harris to help mobilize Clark County’s hospitality workers in particular — like the famed culinary union here — in order to make up for the strong early-vote turnout by Republicans. Democrats also need a surge of mail-in ballots in Clark County.
To be sure, Rosen and the vulnerable House Democrats in Nevada could still win even if Harris loses here to Trump. But Harris needs to keep it close. That’s why her visit is so crucial for Rosen.
It’s also why Rosen’s closing message involves tying Brown so closely to Trump.
“He doesn’t understand our state,” Rosen said of Brown. “He’s just using us to go to Washington and put in Trump’s agenda. He says it himself.”
Looking ahead: Senate GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso is joining Brown on the campaign trail this week, including at today’s Trump rally. NRSC Chair Steve Daines and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) will be here over the weekend.
Rosen, meanwhile, is holding an abortion rights-focused rally on Friday with Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and pro-choice groups. This has long been a focus of Rosen’s campaign given the general popularity of abortion rights. Abortion is on the ballot in four Senate battlegrounds, including Nevada.