On a crisp morning in Carson City, Nevada politicians lined up on Bath Street behind supporters carrying campaign signs.

Preparing for the Nevada Day parade through the state’s capital, rivals like Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Jacky Rosen huddled with supporters, their groups feet away from each other. Like a late-1800s Smith Valley rancher, Heller was dressed in full cowboy attire, a brown hat and a tan vest. Rosen, who is challenging Heller, talked to supporters down the road.

Eight days into early voting and ten days before Election Day, the festival celebrating Nevada’s admission to the union in 1864 was a technically apolitical event with deep political undertones.

Behind Rosen and Heller’s groups, Republican Rep. Mark Amodei, a Carson City native who now represents his hometown and nearly all of Northern Nevada, rested on a bale of hay in the flatbed of his old red Chevy Silverado with the license plate: United States Congressman 1.

In a black SUV, Gov. Brian Sandoval, the parade’s Grand Marshal, drove by Amodei and the staging area, waving to the contenders as his dogs Charlie and Joy enjoyed the breeze of open windows.

Leaning on the stack of hay, Amodei took out a big box of dog biscuits.

“First of all, there are a zillion rules now with the parade,” he said. “You can’t throw candy. So for probably about five years now, a lot of people bring their dogs. So when we see a dog, we’ll send someone to go down and give them a biscuit because the dogs, who are about the only ones that are apolitical anymore, they don’t care who gives them a biscuit.”

But Amodei said it’s sometimes hard to escape the politics of the day.

“There’s always a political tone to it,” he said.

Supporters of Heller and Rosen, locked in a tight race for a U.S. Senate seat that could determine whether the Republicans retain control of the Senate, arrived early at the rally to support their candidates.

Lloyd Marcus, who chairs an independent conservative campaign committee, told The Nevada Independent photojournalist David Calvert he traveled from West Virginia to be at the parade. He said he supported Heller because the senator was backing President Donald Trump's agenda, specifically when it came to fewer regulations and lower taxes. He also added that Heller was a “good guy.”

Down the street, Amy Fleming, at her first Nevada Day parade, was passing out balloons to support Rosen. Fleming, a chorus director who lives in Reno and has lived in Nevada since she was in elementary school, drove down Saturday morning with her family to support Rosen.

“I have two daughters and I think the future of our country is at stake,” she said. “I think we are sending a message that what the president is doing is wrong and that what the Senate is doing is wrong.”

There were also some more nontraditional politicians who attended the parade.

As candidates for Senate and governor gathered with their supporters, Kevin Baugh, the president of the Republic of Molossia, a micronation near Dayton, was standing alone in his full military attire. Although he considers Molossia its own country, he also values the Nevada tradition.

“I’ve lived in Nevada since 1970, so it’s definitely my home,” he said. “I love the state so very much. And [Nevada Day is] just sort of like the essence of our state … Molossia couldn’t exist without Nevada. It’s like a perfect storm … Nevada’s kind of a do-your-own-thing state.”

For three times a week since the beginning of the school year, the Eagle Valley Middle School cheer team has been training for the Nevada Day Parade. Becky Ritter, their coach, said she has attended the parade for nearly two decades and sees it as an important event for the state.

“It’s always very exciting to be out here,” she said, amid high-pitched cheering from her team. “It’s important for Nevada to see the spirit that is in Carson City.”

The parade is not just an event for long-time residents of the state.

About an hour later, the sagebrush chapter of the Ford Model A club drove their vintage automobiles through the parade. In the middle of the lineup were John and Nancy Jorgensen, who moved to Nevada about five years ago.

“I love it,” John Jorgensen said of the state. “I love the freedom that Nevada provides us.”

“And there are all different places to visit and recreational activities,” Nancy Jorgensen added.

Although the competitive races for Senate and governor captured much of the attention, some focused on another closely watched race that has little to do with any one candidate. Question 3, the ballot measure to end NV Energy’s monopoly on the state’s power supply, drew several opponents to the parade.

“It’s an opportunity to get our No on 3 out there to have some awareness with the election coming up,” said Jesse Duarte, who drove in from Reno. “It can have a huge impact on our rates and how we get our power and stuff like that.”

Politics were unavoidable during the parade. Candidates up and down the ballot marched at the event, shaking hands with voters in the final days of the campaign cycle. This was, after all, an election year. Shortly after the parade ended, most of the Republican candidates departed to the Carson City Airport, where Vice President Mike Pence held a rally for Heller and Laxalt.

And the Republicans were not the only ones to have an out-of-town surrogate join them for the day. After the parade, the Democratic candidates left for The Brewery Arts Center, where they held a separate event with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin. For some of the candidates, this was their first Nevada Day parade.

In an interview, Sisolak said there was “a lot of energy” on Saturday.

“It’s nice to see people, talk to them and shake their hands,” he said.

At one point during the parade, Sisolak said he met a supporter of his opponent. He reached out for handshake and the man, who was supporting Laxalt for governor, was visibly hesitant to shake Sisolak’s hand. 

“People can disagree without being disagreeable, and I respect that,” Sisolak said, noting that they ended up shaking hands and talking for a few minutes.

Laxalt’s campaign declined a request for an interview.