Here’s the latest news out of Nevada courtesy of The Daily Beast covering the U.S. Senate race between incumbent U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (R. NV) and Trump-back Army Veteran, Sam Brown (R. NV):
Last month, Brown, 40, told NewsNation he could conquer Rosen’s then-projected lead by appealing to “the independents, and even to the Democrats who are sick and tired of out-of-touch politicians.”
But the Purple Heart recipient, who in 2008 was severely burned by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, has attended churches with extremist views and controversial practices—raising questions about whether this would resonate with all voters.
Brown and his wife, Amy, are members of Calvary Chapel Reno Sparks, helmed by a pastor who pushes his flock to take their “biblical values to the ballot box” and who’s labeled “transgenderism” a Marxist plot by elites aiming to control people.
“This ideology is coming… from Satan,” lead pastor Phil McKay said on his podcast earlier this year. “I believe it’s coming from demons.”
During a New Year’s Eve service, McKay said anyone “caught up in the sin of homosexuality” must repent to Jesus or face judgment—and announced the church would host a conference titled “Coming Out Again,” a kind of conversion therapy program.
“You can’t have it both ways, guys… Either you’re going to stand on God’s word and remain true to orthodox biblical Christianity… [or] you’ll cave into the pressure from those who are separating themselves more and more from the clear teaching of scripture,” McKay continued.
This isn’t the first time Brown’s tried to hide his extremist and controversial stances and background. For example, there’s this:
Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown has backtracked on his position regarding the controversial plan to turn Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste repository.
Brown, the presumed frontrunner in the Republican primary, said on X that he has spoken with engineers and experts on Yucca Mountain over the past month, and it “is abundantly clear that the project is dead.”
“As I’ve said before, it should not, and will not, be revived as a nuclear waste repository. As Nevada’s next US Senator, I’ll stand with President Trump to oppose it,” he posted on X over the weekend.
The latest comment from Brown diverges from what he previously said in 2022 at a Southern Hills Republican Women’s luncheon, where he spoke in support of the project and said it would be a shame if it went to a different state.
He called the failure to open Yucca Mountain an “incredible loss of revenue for our state,” according to audio obtained by the Los Angeles Times, which published a story last month.
Sam Brown, the Republican nominee challenging Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen this year, personally recruited and managed the campaign for a congressional candidate in Texas who believed abortion bans should have no exceptions, the Current has learned.
Campaign managers don’t automatically share the same political stances as the candidates they work for, but Brown’s professional and personal connections to an extreme anti-abortion congressional candidate are relevant as he faces criticism about inconsistent statements about his position on abortion rights.
In 2018, veteran and small business owner Sam Deen ran for Texas’s 5th Congressional District, coming in third out of eight in the Republican primary. Deen on social media said Brown, who he called a “dear friend and war hero,” personally asked him to run. Brown confirmed that story in his own social media posts, including in a video on Election Day where he encouraged voters in the district to head to the polls.
Although he did not center abortion as an issue, Deen described his political position as “100% Pro Life, no exceptions” on social media. He also called for the complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the privatization of Social Security, and said the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage had “no real effect other than political grandstanding.”
Meanwhile, Senator Rosen is doing her job hitting back at Trump’s agenda:
Nevada’s two Democratic senators announced their support Friday for a bill that would end federal income taxes on tips, a proposal floated by former president Donald Trump last month in Las Vegas.
Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto joined the “No Tax on Tips Act." It was introduced in the Senate this week by Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Steve Daines of Montana.
“Nevada has a higher percentage of tipped workers than any other state, and getting rid of the federal income tax on tips would deliver immediate financial relief for service and hospitality staff across our state who are working harder than ever while getting squeezed by rising costs,” Sen. Rosen said in a statement.
Nevada’s two Democratic senators announced their support Friday for a bill that would end federal income taxes on tips, a proposal floated by former president Donald Trump last month in Las Vegas.
Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto joined the “No Tax on Tips Act." It was introduced in the Senate this week by Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Steve Daines of Montana.
“Nevada has a higher percentage of tipped workers than any other state, and getting rid of the federal income tax on tips would deliver immediate financial relief for service and hospitality staff across our state who are working harder than ever while getting squeezed by rising costs,” Sen. Rosen said in a statement.
Ripping Trump’s potential VP pick, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R. OH), a new one:
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., tore into Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Monday over remarks he made about bump stocks as the Senate grapples with whether to ban them.
Vance, who is widely considered a vice presidential contender on the GOP ticket with former President Donald Trump, called efforts by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats to ban the devices “a huge distraction.”
“I think that we have to ask ourselves: What is the real gun violence problem in this country, and are we legislating in a way that solves fake problems? Or solves real problems?” Vance told reporters. “And my very strong suspicion is that the Schumer legislation is aimed at a PR problem, not something that’s going to meaningfully reduce gun violence in this country.”
Vance also said he was concerned the bill could “end up just inhibiting the rights of law-abiding Americans.” Pressed about the 58 people who were killed in a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, he said: “The question is: How many people would have been shot alternatively? And you have to ask yourself the question: Will anyone actually not choose a bump stock because Chuck Schumer passes a piece of legislation?”
His comments drew a fiery response from Rosen, who faces re-election this year. The Las Vegas gunman used firearms equipped with bump stocks.
“This is not a fake problem,” she told reporters. “Let him come to Las Vegas. Let him see the memorial for those people who died. Let him talk to those families. It’s not a fake problem. Those families are dead.”
“Las Vegas was changed forever because of what the shooter did, and the bump stocks helped him. And let JD Vance come — and I’m going to take him to the memorials. We’re going to talk to — talk about our first responders, our ambulance drivers, our police, our firefighters, people at the blood bank, regular people. Shame on him. Shame on him for disrespecting the dead,” the normally mild-mannered Rosen said in a rare flash of anger.
And gearing up for re-election:
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) reported raising $7.6 million from April through June, a record for money raised in the second quarter for a U.S. Senate race in Nevada.
The haul broke the record set by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), who raised more than $7.5 million in the second quarter of 2022, a reporting period that saw a surge in donations due to the fall of Roe v. Wade.
Rosen raised $5 million in the first quarter, much more than the $2.2 million raised by Sam Brown, Rosen’s Republican opponent in the November general election who was running in a GOP primary at the time. Brown has not revealed his fundraising total for the second quarter.
As of late May, Rosen had more than $10 million in cash on hand, while Brown had around $2.5 million on hand.
Polls show Rosen with a sizable lead over Brown, while President Joe Biden is trailing former President Donald Trump. Rosen is one of several Democratic senators said to be at risk of losing their seats this year, an outcome that could prove dire for Democrats given their narrow majority (51 out of 100 seats) in the chamber. A Senate majority is necessary to confirm Supreme Court and cabinet nominees, among other key responsibilities.
Also, this is on the ballot in Nevada:
U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown says he won’t support a hypothetical national ban on abortion. But the Republican challenger to Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen won’t say how he will vote in November on a very real abortion measure on Nevada’s ballot.
If the ballot question passes in consecutive elections in 2024 and 2026, abortion rights that mirror those guaranteed by Roe v. Wade for nearly half a century would be enshrined in the state constitution. The protections exceed those favored by Brown, who has said he opposes abortion except in the case of medical emergencies, incest and rape.
“We’re talking about someone’s life and someone who is really in a tough spot and that’s why I’m not going to support a federal abortion ban,” Brown, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, says in a new ad.
“I believe very strongly in letting ‘the people’ decide,” he doubled down this weekend in an editorial in the Las Vegas Sun.
But Brown is unwilling so far to let the people know where he stands on Nevada’s ballot question.
“Yeah, I’ll be one of approximately one and a half million voters at that point in time,” Brown told a Reno TV station in May when asked how he’ll vote. “And, and I have always said whether it was a decade ago or yesterday that this issue is something that should be addressed by the voters in their states. And so I respect that, I have always respected that, and the voters of Nevada will again determine what the approach is.”
Health and Democracy are on the ballot and we need to make sure to keep Nevada Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Rosen and her fellow Nevada Democrats campaigns: