Could Nevada decide the presidential race?

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – With just days until Election Day, the race for the presidency remains tight.

Pollsters and experts agree that everything will depend on how voters in the battleground states vote. But not all are created equal.

So what are the chances that the election will be decided by the smallest swing state?

“I truly believe the election will go just like this state,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Rubio noted that Nevada is a swing state that has become one of the most diverse places in the country.

“Especially over the last half-century or so, we’ve attracted so many people from all over the country that in some ways we’ve become a little laboratory representing all the other states,” said UNLV professor Michael Green, Ph.D.

Most Nevadans are non-white, and 40 percent of registered voters do not identify as Democrats or Republicans. But Nevada has deadlocked in the last four presidential elections, thanks in part to the Reid Machine. It’s the legendary ground game strategy championed by the late Sen. Harry Reid and led by the local culinary union to elect Democrats.

“The main thing is that workers are talking to workers door by door, person by person, face to face,” said Ted Pappageorge, secretary and treasurer of Culinary Union Local 226.

The Culinary Union represents 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno. Its leaders say the group is running its biggest “Get Out the Vote” operation to ensure Vice President Kamala Harris’ victory in Nevada.

Pappageorge said, “If we do our job, if the Culinary Union knocks on those doors and that army of culinary members that is there, if we get those votes like we think we’re going to do, she will win.”

Nevada’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Stavros Anthony disagrees. In an interview with Gray Media’s Washington News Bureau, Anthony said, “Reed’s car doesn’t exist. Reed’s car is missing.”

Anthony is skeptical because he says he has traveled around the state and heard nothing but enthusiasm for a return to the way things were four years ago.

“People are really tired of how much life costs today. And they knew that it was much cheaper to live under President Trump. They had more money in their pocket. And under his policies it will be much better,” Anthony said.

Polls show the economy is the top concern for Nevadans, and most trust Trump over Harris to handle the situation better. Americans feel the same way, so Tuesday’s election may let us know whether Reid’s machine is running well or in need of repair.

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