As we head into the general election season, various groups are working to get their candidates elected.
For a group like Planned Parenthood, it's particularly important.
Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood Affiliates (NAPPA), the group's political arm in Nevada, has a new executive director in Lindsey Harmon.
She says one of her goals is to work to get certain candidates elected to Nevada offices.
"We as an organization are very focused on the race to unseat [incumbent Sen. Dean] Heller, as well as the governor's race,” she said.
The group has endorsed Congresswoman Jacky Rosen for Senate and Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak for governor.
"I think that Planned Parenthood sees the midterm elections as a pivotal point for us to take advantage of some of the work that has been done, both in the women's movement and through some of the attacks we've experienced by the administration,” Harmon said.
While those endorsed for the two races NAPPA is most focused on are Democrats, Harmon said support is not about party, but the priorities of the candidate.
"We're a non-partisan group ,but we do care about women's reproductive rights," she said. "If there is a candidate on either side of the aisle that gets behind that and can support us and our mission to advance women, then they would be the candidate that we endorsed in this cycle."
The Republican candidate for governor, Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt, stepped into the debate about reproductive rights when he told a Reno TV station he would look into the 1990 referendum that solidified abortion rights in Nevada, and required that changes to the law must go through a ballot measure.
Laxalt walked back those remarks, saying they were taken out of context.
Harmon said Laxalt has avoided questions that would help voters make an informed choice but she also had this warning.
"Nevada is a very pro-choice state, and I think challenging that is a huge misstep & it's a losing battle,” she said.
Harmon's group is working with a coalition of groups to get out the vote this November, and she sees a chance to change the state.
"I see real opportunities for advancement with this engagement of women and I think we are reshaping politics," she said. "We have an opportunity to really take over the state of Nevada and move in that direction.”
Lindsey Harmon, executive director, Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood Affiliates
