Two House seats in the limelight on the battlefield of Nevada

RENO, Nev. – As in most elections of the past decade, two of Nevada’s four House elections have seen Democratic incumbents Susie Lee and Stephen Horsford seeking re-election in battleground states in the west. Because of this, it is in the spotlight of the seat.

But for the first time in over 20 years, Republicans see an opportunity to turn the traditional blue seats red in the Las Vegas area as Nevadans battle some of the highest-ranked. Gasoline prices and unemployment rates nationwide.

Nevada is one of the few battleground states that Donald Trump failed to deliver in 2016. President Joe Biden elected 2020 is just 2.4 percentage points behind.

Sixth-term Democratic Rep. Dina Titus anticipates her toughest challenge yet against Republican Mark Robertson in Las Vegas.

Horsford has a slight advantage in fending off Republican challenger Samuel Peters in one of them. It is the 4th congressional district that stretches from the northern suburbs of Vegas to the rural northeast.

In District 3, which stretches from the Vegas suburb of Henderson to the Arizona border, Lee’s campaign against Republican April Becker is one of what the nonpartisan Cook Political Report sees as a ruckus.

Both are near the top of the list of national races that could help decide Whether the Republican Party Controls the House.

In northern Nevada, Republican Rep. Mark Amodai is almost certain to win re-election for a seventh term in rural Second District. Here, the Democrats have never won, and this year’s challenger, Elisabeth Mercedes-Krause, is largely unknown and woefully underfunded.

Amodei and Peters were among the Republicans who joined Trump earlier this month at a controversial rally in rural Minden, south of Carson City.

Trump does not formally endorse the Nevada House of Representatives. That’s because Adam Laxalt has usurped Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Mast and Joe Lombardo is challenging Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak.

But of the Republican challengers, Peters has aligned most closely with Trump in his race against Horsford, which he won by 4.9 percentage points in 2020.

A veteran who lost the 2020 Republican primary, Peters urged Republicans in Congress to challenge Biden’s election. He said he could not have authenticated without more information and advocated for the elimination of electronic voting machines.

In addition to “electoral integrity” and “fiscal responsibility,” Peters has campaigned the most in border security. His 11-point immigration plan begins with completing the wall the Trump administration started at the Mexican border.

Lee, now seeking a third term, won three percentage points in 2020 in a district that has bounced back between parties over the past decade.

Both Nationalists target the contest.

California Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi helped raise money for Lee, a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee. By June 30, Lee enjoyed a 3-to-1 favorable financing against Republican attorney Becker. 2020 state senators.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (California Republican) campaigned with Becker, and Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel joined her at an Oct. 7 rally in Las Vegas. .

Like other Democrats, Lee has emphasized abortion rights following the Supreme Court ruling against Roe v. Wade.

Becker is against abortion except for rape, incest and harm to the mother, and has the support of anti-abortion groups. But she says federal restrictions on abortion would be unconstitutional because in Nevada, under voter-approved measures, abortions are legal for her 24 weeks.

Titus, dean of the Nevada delegation, is still up for a seventh term. But she complains that moving her newly-attracted precinct to a more Republican-leaning suburb makes her more vulnerable when trying to fend off Robertson. .

Robertson, a retired army colonel and business owner, has been most focused on keeping federal spending in check, including eliminating child care subsidies and some paid family leave, and state governments are doing this. He says it needs to be addressed.

The last Republican to win there was John Ensign, who was elected to the Senate after serving two terms from 1995 to 1999, only to serve a second term in 2011 when he resigned amid an ethics investigation into adultery. I was in charge of the eyes.

The second lieutenant’s resignation set off a domino effect, with Amodai winning a special congressional election in rural Nevada in September 2011.

Now a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Amodei has won at least 58% of the vote since winning his first term.

Krause is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, president of the Nevada Native Caucus, and co-founder of the Indigenous Educators Empowerment non-profit organization. She had only raised about $10,000 by June, but was barely visible throughout her campaign compared to Amodai’s about $800,000.