At Jewish GOP event in Vegas, Republicans take aim at antisemitism on their side
Indy Elections takes you behind the headlines of Nevada politics, delivering scoops and smart analysis on the races that could reshape our lives. We’ve merged previous subscribers to D.C. Download and Indy Elections 2024 — you can change your newsletter settings here.
In today’s edition: Here’s what today’s elections could tell us about the midterms. Plus: The Republican Jewish Coalition’s summit in Vegas highlights GOP divisions, the shutdown is on track to be the longest ever, and Nevada’s Republican congressman delivers a rosy forecast on a Democrat’s election prospects.
It’s Election Day — just not in Nevada. The big contests Tuesday night are the tight governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey. In New York City, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (D) is widely expected to defeat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and radio host Curtis Sliwa (R). In California, voters are expected to approve Proposition 50, which would help Democrats gerrymander districts as Republicans try the same elsewhere.
A Democratic sweep in those elections could have some predictive power for the midterms, according to this Brookings analysis. In recent times, when one party swept all three races, that party secured the House the next year — a good sign for Nevada’s three Democratic House members.
Another coverage note: Politics and data reporter Eric Neugeboren will be taking the lead on our coverage of the Reno mayoral election.
Finally, we invite you to write in with your questions and comments for a chance to be featured in a future edition of Indy Elections. We love it when you keep in touch.
This newsletter is published every other week. Email your newsletter editor Mini Racker at [email protected].
In Vegas, National Republicans highlight division on antisemitism, Israel
At the Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) annual summit in Las Vegas this weekend, national GOP politicians rebuked antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiment on the right, highlighting some of the party’s most stark internal divisions.
“I just want to make it really clear, I’m in the ‘Hitler Sucks’ wing of the Republican Party,” said Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) to roaring applause. “What is this Hitler shit? … You can sit in a basement with weird people and say weird things. It’s a free country, right? But if you ever run for office as a Republican and you embrace this weird shit, we’re gonna beat your brains out.”
Last month, Politico published leaked text messages in which young Republican leaders joked about loving Hitler and disparaged Jewish Americans. Soon after, a 30-year old Trump nominee withdrew from consideration after news broke that he had said he had “a Nazi streak.”
This rising tide of antisemitism among younger Republicans threatens to undo work that the RJC and others have done to win over Jewish voters — typically one of the Democratic Party’s strongest constituencies. In 2024, the RJC cited exit polls showing Trump won 43 percent of the Jewish vote in Nevada. In a different exit poll in 2020, that number was 22 percent.
RJC speakers also decried conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who recently interviewed white supremacist Nick Fuentes. At the Venetian Resort, attendees brandished “Tucker is not MAGA” signs. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) requested his remarks be opened to the media, Politico reported, before suggesting Carlson was a “coward” and “complicit in that evil.”
Some went even further.
“Today, Tucker Carlson is the most dangerous antisemite in America,” said Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL).
Those who took the stage praised the number of young people in the room, a rebuttal to softening support for Israel among GOP youth.
“What we might have sometimes taken for granted in years past, we can no longer just assume anymore,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said, speaking remotely to the RJC.
Exit polls of the 2024 Nevada electorate found 54 percent of voters favored continuing aid to Israel in its war against Hamas and Hezbollah. Trump won 66 percent of voters who supported continuing aid.
Nevadans in the crowd included state Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson), who is running for the 1st Congressional District seat, Assm. Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas), who is running for Clark County Commission, state Sen. Lori Rogich (R-Las Vegas), and Assm. Rebecca Edgeworth (R-Las Vegas).
Speakers repeatedly lauded President Donald Trump as the most pro-Israel president ever. Miriam Adelson, a pro-Israel Vegas casino magnate, is one of his biggest campaign donors.
Over the weekend, it seemed clear where Trump came down on the intraparty tensions.
“I want to thank you, once again, to everyone at the Republican Jewish Coalition,” he said in video remarks. “God bless America. I’m with you all the way.”
— Mini Racker
What We’re Reading and Writing
The Nevada Independent: Nevada wasn’t first on the 2024 presidential calendar. Will 2028 be different?
Nevada to New Hampshire: Now we got bad blood.
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Advisers Consider Las Vegas for Rare Midterm Political Convention
Texas and D.C. are also in the running.
Washington Reporter: EXCLUSIVE: Halo composer hires Trump strategists in House campaign
Power to the Players.
D.C. Download
- The ongoing government shutdown will soon become the longest in American history. In Washington, the House has been out for a month and a half and there has been little movement, though that could soon change.
- “It's like, hey, get Tuesday’s elections over for where they’re a big deal and then maybe somebody can come up with some scenario,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) said in a Monday morning interview with The Indy.
- Amodei also praised Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) for voting to avert the shutdown, saying, “I think that will turn out to be a move that will pay her dividends as a Nevada statewide candidate for years to come.”
- Cortez Masto’s and Sen. Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) differing votes on the continuing resolution represent the clearest public divide between the two senators. But during the shutdown, they have also taken different approaches to weighing in on national issues.
- Cortez Masto has emphasized her willingness to work across the aisle on cost of living, signing on to a bill led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to keep SNAP funded and introducing a bill with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to repeal Trump’s tariffs on coffee.
- Rosen has targeted Republicans more directly, slamming them in a floor speech Friday for adjourning while open enrollment began.
- Following Trump’s announcement about restarting nuclear testing which would likely take place near Las Vegas, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) introduced legislation to ban explosive testing.
— Mini Racker
Indy Ad Watch
AD-NALYSIS OF THE WEEK: Film tax credit expansion already campaign talking point
Supporters of expanding Nevada’s film tax credit program were none too pleased with Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) at the end of this year’s session. Though the proposal cleared the Assembly on a 22-20 vote, it stalled and died in the Senate, which she leads.
Sentiments have since changed.
Cannizzaro, who is running for attorney general, publicly supported the legislation at a recent union-led rally.
Then, the well-funded, union-backed political action committee Nevada Jobs Now sent out mailers urging recipients to “thank [Cannizzaro] for supporting Nevada’s families and workers.”
As The Boss noted in his Flash newsletter the other day, the mailer does not explicitly reference a film tax expansion measure. Instead, it refers to a proposal in front of the Legislature for “large-scale projects that will create a long-term pipeline of quality jobs in Nevada.”
Cheers to many more mailers about the issue between now and the 2026 election.
— Tabitha Mueller
Mini Series
🎉 Have we ever elected a governor and LG from different parties? — Ticket-splitting for federal races has been decreasing for decades. But what about for the top two statewide offices? The most recent example occurred in 1994, when voters re-elected Gov. Bob Miller (D) while voting Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren (R) into office. The same thing happened in 1990, when Miller was re-elected and Sue Wagner (R) secured the post under him, and a few more times throughout Nevada history.
🎥 Lights, camera, petition? — Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Washoe County Commission Chair Alexis Hill launched a petition in mid-October opposing the potential expansion of Nevada’s film tax credit program. “There are better ways to create jobs,” Hill said in a press release. Hill’s campaign indicated they will be releasing details about the number of signatures gathered at a later time..
🔃 Second time’s the charm — Former state Sen. Becky Harris (R-Las Vegas) announced her campaign for County Commission District F on Monday. Again. She previously declared her campaign on Oct. 8 to KTNV’s Steve Sebelius, five days after she changed her voter registration from Republican to nonpartisan. When asked, Harris wrote in an email that the switch “is an accurate reflection of where I am politically.”
🧑🚒 Firefighter union extinguishes questions about gubernatorial endorsement — The Professional Firefighters of Nevada endorsed Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo for re-election in 2026. In 2022, the union endorsed then-Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat.
👊 Joey Gilbert backs governor’s AG pick — Attorney and retired boxer Joey Gilbert dispelled rumors he would be running for attorney general when he endorsed Adriana Guzmán Fralick last week. “I hope you’ll join me in supporting her so we can stop another radical, woke Democrat from ruining our state,” Gilbert wrote in a social media post. In 2022, Gilbert was the runner-up in the Republican gubernatorial primary — a result he unsuccessfully tried to overturn.
— Mini Racker, Tabitha Mueller and Oona Milliken
Looking Ahead
- Tuesday, Nov. 4 — Clark County Commission votes to appoint Jason Patchett for former Assm. Toby Yurek’s (R-Las Vegas) District 19 seat.
- Wednesday, Nov. 5 — The Supreme Court hears arguments on Trump’s tariffs
- Friday, Nov. 14 — The two-day IndyFest program kicks off in Las Vegas
A post that caught our eye:
Christmas creep is real.
We’ll see you next time. Interested in more newsletters from The Nevada Independent? Find all of them here.