Former President Donald Trump returns to Nevada on Saturday. He’s holding a rally in Minden on behalf of the state’s Republican candidates.
That includes U.S. Sen. Candidate Adam Laxalt, who is trying to unseat Catherine Cortez Masto, and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who is up against incumbent Steve Sisolak.
It’s the second time in recent months that the former president has appeared in Nevada on behalf of the GOP ticket and comes just weeks before the Nov. 8 midterm election. Early voting begins Oct. 22.
Trump’s travel to Nevada also comes at a time when a new Nevada Independent poll shows Laxalt and Lombardo with slight leads over their opponents.
State of Nevada contributor and commentator John L. Smith joins host Joe Schoenmann to discuss the impact of the Trump visit and other stories he’s working on.
Both races are close, as well as several important down-ballot races.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
On the campaign cycle
It's a long campaign season. And I have to believe that Laxalt and Lombardo are looking to Trump to fire up that end of the base that he still sings to. As you mentioned, his crowds have gotten smaller. And so he's picking his spots. Clearly in Michigan, he drew a capacity crowd in a smaller arena. He's headed up north to Minden, which is in Douglas County, which you wouldn't think there'd be too many votes for Democrats in Douglas County to start with. So he's really there to have a setting, because it's all about the video, gonna be about having a crowd cheering for the president as he makes his kind of interesting laments about the big lie of the 2020 election being stolen and how the attorney general in New York is against him. And of course, there'll be time to have everyone yell, 'Lock her up, lock her up.' So there's a lot going on there. And Trump seems to sing a familiar tune. But that tune seems to still appeal to a lot of folks in Nevada.
On Trump's appeal in Nevada
From my standpoint, it's hard to imagine anyone would back someone who supports the lie of widespread voter fraud in a campaign or in an election. So I mean, there's that part. But the other part is that I think Trump struck a chord with people who felt left out of the process, who felt perhaps victimized by the economy, and by the changing America. So those folks that get vote too, and all votes count the same. He effectively energized that part of the American population. He did so in Nevada and was quite competitive, although he did lose by more than 30,000 votes. He was competitive here. You can see where every vote is going to count in this very tight race that's going on for Senate and governor and elsewhere. You're seeing him kind of pinch hit for that part of the base that needs to be energized, and needs to get out and vote.
On the recent gubernatorial debate
Well, I think he's competitive for a number of reasons. You know, some voters find it appealing to have a guy who's very much the law enforcement symbol for Clark County, and for statewide as he gets his name out there. Lombardo has that going for him. He also has high gas prices going for him. He's got a lot of challenges in the economy that he can try to pin to the incumbent Sisolak. He did that in the debate. He tried to turn inflation into something that the governor can control. And it didn't all sell probably, but I think [it did] appeal to those folks who are already looking at at Lombardo as their candidate.
John L. Smith, contributor, State of Nevada
