By james art 
Posted Tuesday, November 5, 2024 | 11:49 am
Southern Nevada voters headed to the polls today for a last chance to decide between two presidential candidates with wildly different views on the country’s future.
What is being billed as one of the most significant elections in recent history — some say democracy itself is at risk — pits Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris against former Republican President Donald Trump.
Nevada is one of a handful of key swing states expected to determine the winner. Most polls have shown Harris and Trump in a tie here and in other swing states.
Harris would be the first female president if elected. She promised to work to address economic concerns and other issues without radically veering from the course set by President Joe Biden.
Trump, meanwhile, has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose heavy tariffs on allies and foes alike, and mount the largest deportation operation in US history.
Voters will also be asked to decide a number of high-ticket races and ballot questions. The race between Democratic U.S. Sen. Jackie Rosen and GOP challenger Sam Brown could help determine control of the Senate.
Voting began today at 7am and will continue until 7pm, but anyone queuing when the polls close will be able to vote.
A total of 52 percent of Nevada’s registered voters have already voted by mail or at early voting locations, according to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office.
Sun reporters fanned out across the valley to provide the latest updates.
Henderson voters were moved by the issue of abortion, the economy, Trump’s character
Rebecca Raney, an attorney who lives in Henderson, said she voted in this election to protect her children and family members.
Rani, who voted for Harris, has two daughters, ages 10 and 11. She said she worries about their access to reproductive health care.
“I can’t fathom that their world is going to be any worse than my mother’s and my grandmother’s,” said Rani, who was among voters lined up this morning outside a polling station at Henderson City Hall.
“The thought that they have no options and can’t decide what to do … is shocking and disturbing,” she said.
Rani said the economy and inflation were also matters of great importance.
Emily Nix, another Harris voter, also said reproductive rights are a key issue, along with education and the economy.
Nick said she rejected Trump because of his felony convictions in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to a porn star who said the two had sex.
Nix, an educator, said she would not want Trump to be a role model for her students or her 11-year-old son.
Leonor Young, another Harris voter, said the prices of rent, food and health care are too high. But she blames the problems on Trump.
“People don’t realize that the things we’re going through right now came from his presidency,” Young said.
Yalonda Thompson voted just four days after her mother’s death. Growing up, her parents taught her the importance of voting.
Thompson said she voted for Harris for president, but local races are also important to her.
“These are closer to home for me,” Thompson said. “It affects not only the nation, but your community that you actually live in, and it affects your children.”
Tim Schebeny said he voted for Trump because “our country is going in the wrong direction,” citing crime as a major problem. He said it was “his duty as an American” to vote.
Trump voter Ashley Sweeney said she’s trying to cut through all the campaign rhetoric and focus on the issues.
“I studied both sides and then the independent views,” Sweeney said. “Everybody needs to research the policies a little better.”
Trace Gregg said he voted for Trump based on pocketbook issues. “It’s the money. It’s been the last four years. The impact (it) has had on my money is very tangible,” Greg said.
Gregg, a registered Republican, previously voted for Democratic President Barack Obama. But he didn’t vote for Biden because he believed the economy was doing well under Trump.
“I’m looking at both sides,” Greg said. “I don’t put personalities before who I vote for.”
— Las Vegas Sun reporter Ilana Williams
The small business owner thinks Harris will be the best for the economy
Myrna Gamboaneria, a 49-year-old small business owner and mother, said the rising prices of “everything” influenced her to vote for Harris.
“It was more her mindset and just her experience as a politician,” Gamboaneria said. “She is a more suitable candidate. I think it will be better for the economy.
Harris proposed a slew of tax credits, including ones for first-time homebuyers and families, that would help nearly three-quarters of American households making less than $113,000 a year, according to the Tax Policy Center.
Gamboaneria said the difference between the vice president’s plan and Trump’s — which would largely benefit households making more than $450,000, according to the Tax Policy Center — was an important factor in voting for Harris.
Gamboaneria also said he appreciates Harris’ proposals to help small businesses, which include increasing deductions for start-up expenses from $5,000 to $50,000, according to the Harris campaign.
“Everything she suggested sounded like good ideas. As long as she implements them, I think it will work,” she said.
As for Trump, Gamboaneria said, “I definitely don’t want him in office.”
“I have friends on both sides of the aisle and family members on both sides of the aisle, so I’m just trying to make the most informed decision for myself,” she said. “At the end of the day, we have to be united as a country.
— Las Vegas Sun reporter Kyle Chouinard
The future of democracy is the No. 1 issue for voters in Las Vegas
Anthony Fuentes, 55, is part of Nevada’s fastest-growing voting bloc: Nonpartisans.
There are more than 500,000 registered nonpartisan voters this year, eclipsing the Republican and Democratic totals. More than 100,000 people who are not registered with any of the main parties voted during early voting.
Fuentes said democracy came first as he voted in Summerlin this morning.
He highlighted Trump’s efforts to cancel the 2020 election. Trump made unsubstantiated claims of a stolen election and his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the results.
Trump and his team also filed dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the outcome of the election.
“If you don’t have a functioning democracy, then you can’t make change, so that was No. 1 for me,” Fuentes said. He said he worries that someone like Trump “will do anything to stay in power.”
Democrats have made a concerted effort to reach out to voters like Fuentes, who described himself as “non-ideological.”
Following suit, Republican figures such as former Wyoming U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney urged voters to put “country over party” and vote for Harris.
Fuentes said it’s important to him that longtime Republicans support Harris. His thinking is also consistent with messages from U.S. Sen. Jackie Rosen, D-Nev., to work for Nevadans instead of Washington, D.C., insiders.
“Ideologically, we are such a divided country. There is so much talk about violence these days,” Fuentes said. “We need more bipartisanship to solve the problems.”
Although he is nonpartisan, Fuentes said he voted against opening the Democratic and Republican primaries to people outside the respective parties. If passed, the ballot question would also result in a multiple-choice vote.
“You don’t let Protestants vote for the Pope. Let the people choose their own candidates to represent their vote,” he said. “Let’s just say I prefer Kamala Harris. I’m not going to go and vote for anyone else in the Republican primary. I just don’t think it’s fair.”
— Las Vegas Sun reporter Kyle Chouinard
Voters line up early to vote in North Las Vegas
In North Las Vegas, Will Weiss cast his vote at a voting center in Craig Ranch Regional Park with the mission: “Vote for all the bums” and re-elect former President Donald Trump.
Wise and his son were among the first people to vote in North Las Vegas on Election Day.
Wise said he waited to vote on Election Day because he doesn’t believe in early voting.
“Early voting tells the fraudsters exactly how many ballots you have to make up to beat everyone else, so I do it on election night,” Weiss said.
Federal and state officials said there were no reported cases of widespread voter fraud.
The Wyes’ 19-year-old son, Andrew, joined his father to vote for the first time.
The teenager said he was one of the only people his age he knew who voted. Many are disinterested in taking the time to learn about the races, he said.
“In fact, most of them, I would say, don’t vote. I talked to my friends and it seems they just lack clarity,” he said. “They don’t dig too much into it, and they don’t really care about politics.”
While both father and son threw their support behind conservatives, others voted for Vice President Kamala Harris for president and other Democrats down.
Voters Chelsea and Stephanie Macias said they took their 12-year-old son to the polls to show him how democracy works and to do what they can to protect abortion rights.
“Next election he’ll be 16, so he won’t be old enough to vote, but he’ll be old enough to know everything that’s going on,” Chelsea Macias said. “I just felt it was a very important election.”
The couple said they were the last two of their friends to vote.
In addition to voting for Harris, they said they support ballot questions to allow open primaries and choice voting and write abortion rights into the state constitution.
“I know a lot of people are voting based on this issue alone,” Stephanie Macias said on the abortion issue. “Just the right to choose for yourself is so important.”
Nicole Poindexter said she also voted for Harris, albeit reluctantly. She decided to vote for the Democrat after reading Project 2025, a conservative plan for a potential Trump presidency that many described as extreme.
“Trump had my vote until I read Project 2025 in its entirety,” she said. “I didn’t want to vote for [Harris]i didn’t, but she got my vote just because of the things trump stood for.
— Las Vegas Sun reporter Aidan Runnels
The Associated Press contributed to this report.