By james art LAS VEGAS — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are rolling the dice in Sin City this week as they play a high-stakes matchup for the six Electoral College votes in the swing state of Nevada.
And early voting data shows that Republicans are holding the hot dice.
Las Vegas is the heart of voter-rich Clark County: 70 percent of the state’s 1.9 million registered and active voters live here.
Not surprisingly, the campaigns have made time for many stops here — especially with the RealClearPolitics polling average giving Trump a slim 0.7-point Silver State lead — and are planning more in the final week of the race.
More than 30 percent of Nevada’s registered voters have already cast ballots, with room for growth between now and Friday, when early voting ends.
Republicans lead Democrats in early voting statewide and trail by just under 6,000 ballots in sprawling Clark County.
This is a huge change in support.
Four years ago, Democrats had an early voting lead of 54,000 statewide and 66,000 in Clark County — meaning the county’s Democratic “bulwark” was one-tenth the size it is today.
Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, will meet with female voters at a country music bar in the city on Tuesday.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will rally youth support that day at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, followed by an appearance Wednesday at an early voting event.
The two candidates themselves will invade Las Vegas for campaign events on Halloween.
Harris will fly here for a rally with Mexican pop group Maná after she called for a vote in the northern Nevada city of Reno.
Her last visit to Las Vegas was for a Univision town hall broadcast on Oct. 10, where a voter finally forced the veep to address what she admitted was an “unprecedented” nomination path
Trump will appear at an indoor arena in the city of Henderson for what is likely to be a large, high-energy event similar to his Oct. 24 rally at UNLV, where he promised to call on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on election night. if he wins to end Russia’s invasion.
Democrats need nonpartisans — Nevada’s nickname for those without party registration — to vote heavily in their favor to win the state, Nevada political reporter John Ralston concludes.
And it’s not a lock.
Ralston says Democrats “have to start swinging the electorate more to have a chance,” given the high odds of a swing on Election Day with independent voters.
But he also believes 2024 “is the year of the unicorn” for voting patterns in Nevada.
“No wonder some Republicans are irrationally exuberant — or is it rationally exuberant?”