“With Nevada elections results too close to call the morning after Election Day, there will be a one-day pause in the releasing of any new vote totals,” the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
Biden Holds Narrow Lead In Nevada
A new USA Today/Suffolk poll in Nevada finds Joe Biden leading the Democratic presidential race with 23%, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 19% and Bernie Sanders at 14%.
Among the second tier of candidates: Kamala Harris is at 4% while Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer are at 3%.
Twenty-one percent of those surveyed said they remain undecided.
Quote of the Day
“You got to be against Yucca Mountain and you gotta say Nevada right.”
— Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, offering two pieces of advice for Democratic presidential candidates in her state.
Iowa and Nevada Will Allow Caucus Voting by Phone
“Democrats in the early presidential contest states of Iowa and Nevada will be able to cast their votes over the telephone instead of showing up at their states’ traditional neighborhood caucus meetings next February,” the AP reports.
“The tele-caucus systems, the result of a mandate from the Democratic National Committee, are aimed at opening the local-level political gatherings to more people, especially evening shift-workers and people with disabilities, whom critics of the caucuses have long said are blocked from the process.”
Biden Way Ahead In Nevada
A new Monmouth poll in Nevada finds Joe Biden with a clear lead in the Democratic presidential race at 36%, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 19%, Bernie Sanders at 13%, Pete Buttigieg at 7%, and Kamala Harris at 6%.
Other candidates registering at least 1% in the poll are former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (2%), New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (2%), entrepreneur Andrew Yang (2%), former cabinet secretary Julián Castro (1%), Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (1%), Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (1%), and author Marianne Williamson (1%).
The remaining 12 candidates earn less than 1% or were not chosen by any respondents in the poll.
Sisolak Vetoes Bill to Bypass Electoral College
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) “has issued his first veto out of the 2019 legislative session, rejecting a proposal that would have pledged Nevada’s six electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote for the presidency,” the Nevada Independent reports.
Explained Sisolak: “Once effective, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevada’s electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose.”
Biden Holds Small Lead In Nevada
A new Change Research poll in Nevada finds Joe Biden leading the Democratic presidential field with 29%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 24%, Pete Buttigieg at 13%, Elizabeth Warren at 12%, Kamala Harris at 11% and Beto O’Rourke at 4%.
Key finding: Among 18-34-year olds, Sanders is at 50% and Biden is in fifth place at only 6%.
Nevada May Be Wildcard for Democratic Race
HuffPost: “Nevada, the westernmost state of the early-voting states in presidential primaries, can often feel like the neglected kid brother of New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa. The other three states have decades’ worth of traditions and earn mounds of media attention, with Jefferson-Jackson dinners and fish fries that candidates and reporters seemingly have no choice but to attend. But Nevada, which is three time zones away from the glare of the D.C.-to-New York media corridor, only earned early-state status in 2008.”
“But in 2020, the Silver State could play a decisive role because Nevada lacks a clear favorite among the Democratic contenders. Certain candidates, however, are the early favorites in the other three states – In Iowa, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are polling well; in New Hampshire, Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, a fellow New Englander, have a leg up; and in South Carolina, Biden, along with Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, is expected to perform well among the state’s African American voters.”
Nevada Democrats Plan Major Changes to Caucus
“Nevada Democrats released a list of proposed changes to their caucus for the 2020 presidential elections that includes major updates to the voting process to make it more accessible for residents,” the HuffPost reports.
“As part of the caucus revamp, the Nevada State Democratic Party is proposing a four-day early voting period, similar to the one offered during general elections, for those who cannot attend the state party’s caucus on Feb. 22, 2020, as well as a two-day virtual caucus for voters who cannot be present at the caucus in February.”
Nevada Makes History with Female Majority Legislature
With appointments to fill two vacant seats, Nevada became the first state in the country with a majority-female legislature, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
Reid Machine Keeps Humming In Nevada
“Harry Reid may no longer lead Senate Democrats in Washington, but the political machine he built in Nevada has Republicans on the run,” the AP reports.
“Democrats romped up and down the state in the Nov. 6 midterm elections, ousting Republican Sen. Dean Heller, winning races for governor and lieutenant governor, and expanding their state legislative majorities.”
Dead Brothel Owner Wins In Nevada
Las Vegas Review Journal: “Democrat Lesia Romanov was the only candidate with a pulse in the race for Assembly District 36, but apparently that wasn’t enough to defeat deceased brothel owner Dennis Hof.”
“Based on partial returns late Tuesday night, it appeared voters in the rural, heavily Republican district chose to elect someone no longer living rather than let the seat turn blue.”
Biden Heads to Nevada
“Joe Biden is heading to Nevada this weekend, appearing at the influential Culinary Workers Union as he mulls a 2020 presidential run,” Politico reports.
“The visit follows an appearance by Biden this past weekend in South Carolina, another critical early primary state. Biden, a frontrunner in early presidential polls, has been ramping up his midterm campaign appearances in recent weeks.”
Nevada Women Set to Make History
“Nevada women are on the verge of breaking a major barrier. The state could could be the first the nation to have a legislature where the majority of the elected officials are women by the end of this year’s election cycle. Of the 42 seats in the state assembly, women are running for 31, and seven women are running for the state Senate’s 10 open seats,” NBC News reports.
“That would be quite a feat considering only 25 percent of the nation’s state legislators are women.”
“Currently, women representatives make up 38 percent of Nevada’s legislature. Only Arizona and Vermont have a larger percentage, both sitting at 40 percent.”
Nevada Could Elect Female Majority Statehouse
Sandoval Blasts Latest GOP Health Care Bill
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) said that the flexibility fellow Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) promised will be good for Nevada in a health-care bill he’s sponsoring is a “false choice” because the legislation will also slash funding, the Nevada Independent reports.
Sandoval said he would not “pit seniors, children, families, the mentally ill, the critically ill, hospitals, care providers or any other Nevadan against each other” because of the steep cuts to federal funding the state would face if the Heller-sponsored measure were to pass.
Nevada Just Passed a Public Health Insurance Option
“Nevada, with little fanfare or notice, is inching toward a massive health insurance expansion — one that would give the state’s 2.8 million residents access to a public health insurance option,” Vox reports.
“The Nevada legislature passed a bill Friday that would allow anyone to buy into Medicaid, the public program that covers low-income Americans. It would be the first state to open the government-run program to all Nevada residents, regardless of their income or health status.”
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) did not respond to an inquiry about whether he would sign the bill or veto it.
How Harry Reid Likely Delivered Nevada for Clinton
Jon Ralston: “Yet about one thing Trump was right: Harry Reid built this. After two years of boosting voter registration among key Democratic demographics, the retiring Senate majority leader has brought turnout among Hispanics in the state to record levels. In doing so, he’s almost surely delivered the state for Hillary Clinton—and possibly with it the presidential race (Trump has only the narrowest path to 270 electoral votes without Nevada). The reality of this election is that if Clinton wins, especially if she ends up needing Nevada, it’s not a stretch to declare that Reid was the single most important person in her victory.”
“Reid’s ground operation exploited the fear and loathing of Trump to the max, and the early results bear it out: Whereas the Latino vote was 15 percent of the Nevada electorate in 2008 and 18 percent in 2012, data I have seen shows now it is up 30 percent from 2012 in early voting, meaning it could go above 20 percent of all voters by Tuesday evening.”
