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Political Races in Nevada 2024


Nevada is once again going to be a vital state in 2024.

Not only will its six electoral votes help determine who the winner is in 2024, but a Senate seat is at stake as well, along with a potential GOP trifecta thanks to current Nevada governor, Republican Joe Lombardo.

But for the people of Nevada, there are several other high-stakes races as well.

The Las Vegas mayoral office is up for grabs because current Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman is going to be termed out. I will post the Democratic candidates running to be mayor of Sin City, and though I will offer my opinion on the matter, I will defer to Colin on his opinion on who should be mayor.

In addition, the entire Nevada Assembly and 10 out of 21 of the Nevada Senate seats are up for grabs. Later on, I will post the Democratic state legislative candidates for our Nevada readers to spread the word regarding who to support. I will be posting Democratic candidates who are looking to unseat Republicans in both chambers, but especially the Nevada State Senate.

Current Situation

Considering Colin is a Nevada resident, I will invite him to correct me if I am wrong, but here is what I observe regarding the state of things in Nevada.

Just like the 2008 Great Recession, the economic fallout from COVID-19 hit Nevada particularly hard. Thanks to how reliant on tourism the state economy is, unemployment rates reached over 28 percent, just to give an idea of what kind of damage was done.

Despite the recovery being complete by 2022, it is clear that voters associated the hard times during COVID-19 with then Democratic Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak. Facing an opponent with more political acumen than most Republicans in Las Vegas at the time, Sisolak was defeated by County Sheriff Joe Lombardo by Lombardo’s driving down Democratic margins in both Clark and Washoe Counties while maintaining Republican margins in the rest of Nevada. Only one other Republican won on a statewide basis that night despite on paper Nevada being an easy pickup state.

I would say it’s too early to tell how formidable an opponent Governor Lombardo will be in 2026. As this article from Sabato’s Crystal Ball regarding the approval ratings of rookie governors says, he is in a similar position as Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.

Personally, I think he will be a challenging opponent, but that is for later. Right now, we need to focus on the races in 2024.

Opinion on the Las Vegas Mayoral Race

I will be only listing the two Democratic candidates running for this office, mainly because I want to see a solid bench of potential Democratic candidates for statewide office develop.

There are two sets of Democrats running for the Las Vegas mayoral race: former congresswoman of Nevada’s 1st Congressional District and senior vice president of the Touro University system Shelley Berkley and current Ward 5 Las Vegas City Council member Cedric Crear.

Both candidates appear to be well versed in policy, and neither are political novices, though Berkley has a clear edge in political and governing experience.

I will add the caveat that Berkley has had multiple ethics issues throughout her career, though from what I can tell about Nevada politics, that is not unusual.

Based on the significant edge in experience she has, my opinion is leaning Berkley. That means my mind can be changed, but if I were a Las Vegas resident today, I would vote for her for mayor.

With that being said, let’s finish this up by helping out Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen. I will be posting links below regarding Senator Rosen and the Democratic candidates for Las Vegas mayor.
Stay focused and frosty, everyone.

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