LAS VEGAS — Republicans are working to make inroads here in Nevada after President Donald Trump won the Silver State. They see their big new tax bill as the ticket in.
Nevada Democrats’ response is to go on offense, putting their own spin on Trump’s push for no tax on tips and trying to win on one of the 2024 election’s defining issues, the economy.
“It’s a betrayal,” Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) said of the One Big Beautiful Bill. “And I really feel bad because my workers believed in what Donald Trump proposed.”
Target on Nevada. Three of Nevada’s four House seats are held by Democrats: Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Horsford. They’re all DCCC frontliners and on the NRCC’s target list. Lee already has a GOP challenger, video game composer Marty O’Donnell.
It’s not just Trump winning Nevada that has House Republicans eyeing the state. They see a chance to knock Democrats for voting against some of the most popular pieces of the reconciliation bill.
The Ways and Means Committee launched its messaging campaign for the One Big Beautiful Bill here in Las Vegas on Friday, where Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) slammed Democrats for voting against tax cuts for tips, overtime and seniors.
Rather than avoiding the issue, Democrats say they want to confront it head-on.
“I want to talk about [no tax on tips] too,” Horsford said in an interview. “I want to talk about why it doesn’t go far enough.”
Titus echoed that message. “We’re not shying away from it,” she said. “We support no tax on tips. Let’s do it the right way.”
Still, Titus acknowledged in our interview that this can be a tough message to land with voters.
Big picture. Democrats are confident they can win the broader economic argument, particularly amid a slump in Las Vegas tourism. They want to talk about cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in the OBBB, housing costs and tariffs.
“At the same time that they’re saying that they’re giving relief in one hand, they’re taking it away in the other,” Horsford said.
For their part, Republicans are betting Americans will feel an economic boost from their tax cuts early next year that will help deliver voters.
There’s still a long runway before the midterms for the messaging war over the GOP’s new law to play out.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who eked out a win despite Trump’s victory in November, offered a similar message to her House counterparts. She vowed to work on implementing no tax on tips while still arguing it’s not enough.
“This bill has done nothing — nothing — to help anyone in Nevada,” Rosen said.
