Tennessee
Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen and Republican challenger Sam Brown
CNN
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Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen and Republican challenger Sam Brown will face off in one of the most crucial Senate races of the 2024 election, but both won their primary elections on Tuesday.
Senate Democrats face a tough political climate this fall, needing to defend seats in Republican-held Montana, Ohio and West Virginia, as well as other battleground states, making Rosen’s seat crucial to the party’s hopes of maintaining a slim Senate majority.
Nevada is set to play a key role in the November election, as Republicans seek to upend years of Democratic dominance in federal elections there. Republicans last won a Nevada senate election in 2012, and the last time a Republican won the state for president was George W. Bush in 2004. But Republicans did win the governor’s office in 2022, and they’re looking to build on that gain this year.
Brown, a retired Army captain who was wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan and received a Purple Heart, unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the state’s other Senate seat in 2022. But the Republican National Committee considered him the front-runner for this term, and he received a belated endorsement from former President Donald Trump over the weekend.
In Tuesday’s primary, Brown beat candidates including Jeff Gunter, a former Trump ambassador to Iceland and a wealthy dermatologist who spent $2.2 million of his own money on ads positioning himself as Trump’s true ally in the presidential race and portraying Brown as beholden to Washington interests.
Brown has run about $840,000 worth of ads ahead of the primary, but he has also been backed by several outside groups that have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the primary, including Duty First Nevada PAC, which has spent more than $900,000; the Republican Leadership Fund, which has spent about $470,000; and Americans for Prosperity, an influential conservative organization funded by the Koch family, which has spent about $420,000.
Brown’s ads highlight his support for Trump policies, particularly his efforts to curb illegal immigration, and also regularly highlight his military service.
“As a military veteran, I will never sacrifice America’s security. I will finish Trump’s wall and stop the border invasion. As a small business owner, I will lower prices and make the Trump tax cuts permanent,” Brown says in one ad.
Meanwhile, Rosen’s campaign has already aired $7.5 million in television ads and, as of May 22, had raised $10.2 million, far outpacing Brown’s $2.5 million.
Rosen’s ads try to portray her as a moderate, highlighting her support for measures to lower prescription drug prices and provide health benefits to veterans exposed to toxic incinerators, and as someone who breaks with Democratic leadership on border security.
“Six years ago, I promised to do what’s right for Nevada, not for party leaders. I will not toe the party line, and I never have. I am proud to be elected one of the most bipartisan senators,” Rosen says in one ad.
Rosen was first elected to the Senate in 2018, defeating Republican incumbent Dean Heller. He previously served one term in the House of Representatives, representing a Las Vegas-area swing seat.
