FACT BRIEFDo Nevada Democrats typically lose 15 of the state’s 17 counties in elections?
YES
State politics in Nevada reflect the national trend of Democrats winning the urban vote and losing the rural vote.
Nevada’s two most populous counties are Clark County in the southernmost part of the state and Washoe County in the northwest, which have populations of about 2.3 million and 486,000, respectively. Together, they make up almost 89% of Nevada’s population, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.
In the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats won the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial votes by significant margins in Clark County, and more modest margins in Washoe County. In contrast, Democrats only received about a third of the rural vote in both races.
Maps of previous election results from 2020, 2018 and 2016 show similar outcomes, with Washoe and Clark counties in blue bookending Nevada’s 15 remaining red counties.
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Sources
Brookings Blue metros, red state politics in the 2022 Nevada midterm elections
US Census Nevada: 2020 Census
Politico Nevada presidential results: 2020
Politico Nevada presidential results: 2018
Politico Nevada presidential results: 2016
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