Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Reno, Nevada the night of Friday, Oct. 11. His appearance underscores the importance of Nevada, with the presidential election less than one month away.
Nevada has six electoral votes and is viewed as one of just a handful of battleground states. Both the Trump campaign and backers of Kamala Harris are doing the math and trying to figure out how to get to the magic number of 270 electoral votes to win the White House.
In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in Nevada by less than 3 percentage points. The most recent poll in the state, conducted by Emerson College, had Harris ahead of Trump by just one point 48% to 47%.
In Nevada, the economy is the key issue for voters, largely because of a difficult labor situation. According to the national Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.5%. In Las Vegas, it’s actually closer to 7%, and those who do have a job often rely on tips.
The issue of taxes on tips has come up in the presidential election and is likely very important in Nevada.
There is also an amendment on abortion rights on the state ballot. That particular hot button issue is expected to affect turnout.
Numbers of from the secretary of state’s office indicate there are about 600,000 nonpartisan registered voters in Nevada. Compare that to about 596,000 Democrats and 560,000 Republicans. The numbers could lead to a very interesting election night on Nov. 5.
