Indy Elections takes you behind the headlines of Nevada politics, delivering scoops and smart analysis on the races that could reshape our lives. You can change your newsletter settings here.

In today’s edition: We explain why anti-establishment candidates face particularly long odds in Nevada. Plus: Who is officially running, reporting on the Nevada Democrats during the State of the Union, and a political ad by any other name.

Candidate filing has officially opened! Check out our new tracker for the latest.

This newsletter is published every other week. We want to hear from you! Email your newsletter editor Mini Racker at [email protected]. 

Nevada’s Mamdani moment hasn’t arrived yet. Will it ever?

Following Democrats’ up-and-down ballot defeats across the country in 2024, anti-establishment candidates have found momentum in primary elections, from Zohran Mamdani in New York City to Graham Platner in Maine to Analija Mejia in New Jersey.

But equivalent candidates in Nevada have struggled to build momentum. 

Several Nevada candidates challenging incumbents or party favorites in Democratic primaries this year are hoping for better odds, framing themselves as outsiders or underdogs with the courage to take on corporate interests. 

Experts, advisers and even some candidates say they’ll face an uphill battle, given the state’s political profile and recent history.

Read more here about why Nevada’s insurgent candidates have struggled before and may struggle again.

— Kate Reynolds

What We’re Reading and Writing

KLAS: Las Vegas Culinary Union pushes to make ‘No Taxes on Tips’ permanent

The union is planning to host another event on the policy with hundreds of members later this month. 

The Nevada Independent: Nevada lawmakers say candidates can use campaign donations to buy guns

Lawmakers also approved rules saying ballots without postmarks can be counted as long as they are received within three days of Election Day. 

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D.C. Download: Nevadans at SOTU

The State of the Union is one of Washington’s most high-profile events, bringing together the nation’s most powerful in one room. This year, I attended President Donald Trump’s speech with an eye toward looking at how Nevada’s members of Congress are responding to his leadership. 

• When I asked Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) why she was attending while other Democrats skipped out, she said, “I’ve gone every year since I’ve been here because I believe that we respect the office. We don’t always agree with the holder of any office. But I do respect our Constitution, I do respect the office of the presidency, and I feel that it is my job to go.” She added: “It’s what I would expect from my peers. Now, everyone makes that decision for themselves, but that’s why I’m going.” In a statement afterwards, she called Trump’s remarks “political theater.” 
• The four Democrats who did go — Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Rosen, plus Reps. Steven Horsford (D-NV) and Susie Lee (D-NV) — invited guests who underscore their fight against Trump’s tariffs and cuts to Affordable Care Act tax credits.
  • Cortez Masto brought Liz Woolsey, a small-business owner who relies on tourism to Great Basin National Park. 
  • Rosen brought Vania Carter-Strauss, a nurse and entrepreneur.
  • Horsford’s office said he had invited Andrea Davis, a North Las Vegas mom and health care advocate but suggested she not travel amid weather concerns. 
  • Lee brought Katie Provost, a single mom whose monthly insurance costs have risen by more than $600 with the end of tax credits.  
• Horsford sat with other members of leadership and spoke warmly to Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Horsford and Lee exchanged skeptical looks before the congresswoman found a spot along the center aisle. She greeted members of both parties, including potential presidential contenders such as Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). I also spotted Cortez Masto chatting with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and both senators talking to battleground Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA). 
• The Nevada Democrats remained solemn throughout most of the speech, but stood and applauded a few times — including when Trump declared members of Congress shouldn’t be able to profit from insider trading, presented military honors, recognized conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, decried political violence and praised the return of Israeli hostages. 
• Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) was the only Nevada Democrat who didn’t go, but her office told me she was watching, and she posted on X throughout. “The prosperous economy that Donald Trump described tonight does not exist,” she said in a release. 
• The delegation’s sole Republican, retiring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), did not attend either — he had dinner plans.

— Mini Racker

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Indy Ad Watch

A 15-second CTV ad stating that Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) is fighting back against “greedy insurance companies” and urging viewers to tell her to “keep fighting to lower health care costs” was one of February’s most-expensive political ads in Nevada, according to AdImpact. 

The spot from the Effective Governing Coalition — a nonprofit aligned with the New Democrat Coalition, which Lee and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) belong to — takes advantage of the fact that 501(c)(4)s, or “social welfare” groups, may engage in political activity if it isn’t their “primary purpose.” 

While this ad toots Lee’s horn, it isn’t explicitly advocating for her re-election. Instead, it can be classified as an issue ad that generally doesn’t need to be reported to the Federal Election Commission.

Spending from 501(c)(4)s skyrocketed after the Citizens United decision in 2010, according to OpenSecrets. Such organizations are tax exempt and do not have to disclose their donors’ identities. 

— Mini Racker

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Mini Series

🏗️ New homebuilders PAC — The Southern Nevada Home Builders Association has a new PAC aimed at supporting candidates who “align with the mission of protecting Nevada’s residential construction industry,” a press release said. It already has $700,000 in cash on hand and a goal of raising $1 million by November. The PAC and its allies are set to begin interviewing and evaluating candidates this month for potential endorsements.

👂New attack line — Nevada lawmakers are the latest Democrats to criticize the “Epstein class.” The term refers to a ruling elite that can dodge accountability — especially those tied to convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

• “While families struggle to afford groceries, rent, and health care, Republicans continue to work for their Epstein class donors and oligarchs,” Rep. Steven Horsford (D) wrote in a release last week. 
• At an IndyTalks event, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) recognized the young girls “exploited at the hands of Epstein and his Epstein class.” 
• Recent polling has shown 7 in 10 Americans think the Epstein files exemplify how powerful people rarely face consequences for their actions, while a survey from center left think tank Third Way found young men — a demographic Democrats hope to win back — are acutely concerned about the administration’s delay in releasing the files. 

💆What tensions? — “I really just wanted to clarify, from my perspective, the idea of ‘tensions’ between me and state leadership,” Congressional District 2 candidate Matthew Fonken (D) said in a follow-up interview after we published a story that suggested the relationship might be strained. 

• Fonken served in party leadership after a 2021 progressive coup. The Reid Machine eventually regained power. “I showed up to serve the state Democratic Party because it was a time to fight back,” Fonken said. “That meant taking on MAGA extremists. … But sometimes it meant taking on people in my own party as well. I took the job to make sure Democrats won in a critical midterm election, and even when long-time Democratic leaders tried to sideline us, we pushed back and got to work.” Afterwards, Democratic leaders in the state Legislature welcomed him back. He still serves in the party’s Central Committee.

🕺Mayor Pete’s in town — Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg — a potential 2028 presidential contender — endorsed lieutenant governor hopeful Assm. Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) last week at an event at the Painters and Drywall Union in Las Vegas. Buttigieg and Jauregui made a joint pitch about increasing construction jobs and backing union projects. Buttigieg told The Indy in an interview that he believes that consumers and businesses should be rebated for the cost of recent tariffs implemented by the Trump administration.

• “We all know that this is literally directly a tax on Americans,” Buttigieg said. “That tax was held to be illegal by the Supreme Court, so we should be getting our money back.”

🤔 Stavros on immigration — Republican Lieutenant Gov. Stavros Anthony said he doesn’t believe that undocumented people “really have any due process” on Nevada Newsmakers this February. 

• “Immigration courts are not criminal courts or civil courts, so they don’t really have any due process,” Stavros said. “If somebody is here illegally and it’s determined they’re here illegally, they’re deported, that’s it.” 

⛪ Building Blockey — Last month in front of pews at Paradise Church in Las Vegas, with three dozen or so supporters, Republican candidate Jim Blockey announced his campaign for Congressional District 1. Blockey spoke of LAWA (an acronym for Liberal Agenda to Weaken America) Democrats and criticized one of his top opponents, state Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson), for being too soft on abortion. Blockey, who said God had told him to run for Congress again after losing races in 1998, 2000 and 2024, was described by his wife Chemene Blockey as “Charlie Kirk and Trump rolled into one” due to his conviction and courage.

— Eric Neugeboren, Mini Racker, Isabella Aldrete and Oona Milliken

Looking Ahead

• Sunday, March 8 — Sen. Kelly headlines Washoe Dems’ winter fundraiser
• Friday, March 13  — Candidate filing closes

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A post that caught our eye: 

This week has real dog-in-a-burning-house-meme vibes. 

We’ll see you in two weeks. Interested in more newsletters from The Nevada Independent? Find all of them here.