Donald Trump has defeated Kamala Harris in Nevada, the first win by a Republican presidential candidate in the state since 2004.
Both candidates waged a hard-fought battle over the state’s Latino population, a group that makes up a fifth of registered voters in the state and has historically overwhelmingly favored Democrats but edged right in recent years. And amid a national fight over working-class voters, the two camps also made overt plays for the votes of the state’s politically powerful Culinary Union, which represents roughly 60,000 hospitality workers across the state, by endorsing no-taxes-on-tips proposals.
Trump is no stranger to the Silver State, which has 6 electoral votes. His glittering gold Trump International Hotel towers just off of the Las Vegas Strip, and he is longtime friends and business partners with Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin. Over the last decade, he also has developed a close relationship with GOP state party chair Michael McDonald, one of six Republicans who signed false certificates giving Nevada’s six electoral votes to Trump in 2020. The former president has made many trips to the state throughout his three campaigns.
Harris, from neighboring California, has deep ties to Nevada, too. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who got to know Harris when they were both state attorneys general going after big banks during the housing crisis, is a confidant of the vice president’s.