Jacky Rosen currently represents Nevada’s 3rd Congressional districts. Her district has roughly as many Democrats as Republicans, and Rosen’s politics reflect this. Rosen has an interesting life-story, she has a working-class background and waited tables to put herself through college. Her former membership in the Culinary Union will take her a long way in Las Vegas. She worked as a software programmer before taking up politics, and serves on the Science, Space and Technology committee in the House.
Rosen is running against Dean Heller, who also has a reputation as a “bi-partisan” politician. But that comes with many caveats. Heller is an example of how the entire Republican party is now the party of Trump. He used to be critical of Trump, but all that criticism has disappeared after the election.
During the campaign, Heller renounced Trump as someone who "denigrates human beings" and suggested he wouldn't vote for him. [...]
Since the summer, Heller and Trump or senior White House staff have spoken regularly, chiefly on a range of policy including taxes and veterans issues. Stylistically, the two are near opposites: Heller, the quiet listener from rural Nevada who enjoys horseback riding, and Trump, the flamboyant, back-slapper from New Yorker. They've come to see in one another a get-it-done approach to policy that has fueled a respectful working relationship, McDonald said. — lasvegassun.com/...
Part of the change in Heller’s thinking is likely due to Sheldon Adelson, who is a Nevada resident and has raised a lot of money for Heller over the years. Adelson is also dropping over $50 million into Republican SuperPACs in a last-minute push to retain control of Congress.
Senator Dean Heller on Wednesday called President Trump “a great leader” who had revived Nevada’s economy, a striking departure from the arm’s-length approach Mr. Heller took with Mr. Trump in the 2016 campaign and in the first months of his presidency. [...]
Mr. Heller memorably said in October 2016, weeks before the presidential election, that he was “100 percent against Clinton, 99 percent against Trump.” — www.nytimes.com/...
Trump has reciprocated, holding a rally in Nevada to support Heller.
The race is extraordinarily tight, with most recent polls placing Heller and Rosen alternating leads. As with most races, it’ll come down to turnout. One of the things propping up Heller is the low margin Rosen has among hispanic voters in Nevada. The story is repeated with women, where Rosen is barely ahead.
But in an encouraging sign for Republicans, nearly 40 percent of Hispanics said they would vote for Mr. Heller compared with 52 percent for Ms. Rosen, according to the poll. Only 45 percent of registered Hispanic voters say they were “almost certain to vote,” compared with 63 percent of white voters, and 13 percent of Hispanic registered voters said they were “not at all likely to vote.”
Democrats are also hoping that Ms. Rosen will benefit from enthusiasm among female voters who are highly energized this year and may want more women elected to Congress. But among female voters, Ms. Rosen holds a razor-thin advantage that is well within the poll’s margin of error. — www.nytimes.com/...
If Rosen wins, Nevada will have gone from never having sent a woman to the Senate, to having two female senators, all within 2 years.
To some degree, the race is being driven by health-care. Heller’s position on the various ObamaCare repeal bills shifted several times last year. He voted to repeal portions of the health-care bill. Rosen has made that one of the central arguments for months. The Pod Save America team got in on that action as well:
This isn’t a particularly thrilling race if you’re a progressive. But, it may well be the race that decides who holds the gavels in the Senate. For that alone, Jacky Rosen deserves your support.
— @subirgrewal
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