{"id":47174,"date":"2024-03-16T12:58:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T19:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/?p=47174"},"modified":"2024-04-02T03:32:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T10:32:04","slug":"the-field-is-set-lets-get-ready-to-rummmble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/the-field-is-set-lets-get-ready-to-rummmble\/","title":{"rendered":"The Field is Set, Let\u2019s Get Ready to Rummmble!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/em><\/p>\n (Chuck Muth)<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Aannndd\u2026they\u2019re off!<\/p>\n With the possible exception of candidates withdrawing over the next week, the match-ups for this election cycle in Nevada are set.\u00a0 A look at some of the key races while I take a break from my book-writing project\u2026<\/p>\n In the U.S. Senate race against Democrat incumbent\u00a0Jacky Rosen<\/strong>, Republicans are likely to nominate\u00a0Sam Brown<\/strong>.\u00a0 Money makes a difference, and he\u2019s successfully swamped the field by raising over $3 million going into the primary and has the backing of the GOP establishment.<\/p>\n Personally, I think\u00a0Tony Grady<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 with his breadth of life experience – is the best-qualified candidate for the job. But in politics, it\u2019s not the best candidate who wins.\u00a0 It\u2019s the best campaign.\u00a0 And Tony, unfortunately, has been unable to catch fire with donors.<\/p>\n The wild card in this race might be\u00a0Jeff Gunter<\/strong>, but only *if* he self-funds his campaign to the tune of a couple million dollars and is somehow able to land\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0endorsement.\u00a0 And if Trump\u2019s followers \u2013 many of whom are already supporting Brown \u2013 switch over to his camp.\u00a0 A heavy lift.<\/p>\n Perennial candidate\u00a0Jim Marchant<\/strong>\u00a0is running a vanity campaign on \u201celection fraud\u201d but has gotten little traction.\u00a0 He\u2019d lose this race in a landslide of\u00a0Sigal Chattah<\/strong>\u00a0proportions if he\u2019s the GOP nominee.<\/p>\n Stephanie Phillips<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 who should have run for a legislative seat instead \u2013 is playing the gender card: \u201cIt takes a woman to beat a woman.\u201d\u00a0 But Republican voters don\u2019t play identity politics the way Democrats do.<\/p>\n Bottom line: This is Brown\u2019s race to lose. But\u00a0there\u2019s a fly in his anointment.<\/p>\n The wild card will be in the general election, with conservative\u00a0Janine Hansen<\/strong>\u00a0launching a third-party bid.\u00a0 Janine has high name ID for a third-party candidate and is likely to pull 2-3 percent, enough to make the difference in a close race.<\/p>\n In Nevada\u2019s 1st<\/sup>\u00a0congressional district race, the front-runner is\u00a0Fleming Larsen<\/strong>.\u00a0 Larsen scored an impressive second-place finish in his state Assembly race in 2022 in a Democrat district and has put together a solid campaign.<\/p>\n His nearest competitor is\u00a0Mark Robertson<\/strong>, who was the GOP nominee for this seat last time out.\u00a0 But Larsen to date has been running a far more impressive campaign. The other candidates who filed trail well behind the pair.<\/p>\n In Nevada\u2019s 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0congressional district, no Democrat filed against incumbent Republican\u00a0Mark Amodei<\/strong>, who will easily win his primary and hold the seat.<\/p>\n In Nevada\u2019s 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0congressional district, newcomer and late-entry\u00a0Marty O\u2019Donnell<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 with the backing of Team Lombardo \u2013 is likely to emerge from the GOP primary as the party\u2019s nominee against a half-dozen challengers who don\u2019t have the juice to go the distance.<\/p>\n In Nevada\u2019s 4th<\/sup>\u00a0congressional district, expect former legislator and former North Las Vegas mayor\u00a0John Lee<\/strong>\u00a0to easily dispatch\u00a0Dave Flippo<\/strong>, who picked the wrong race and the wrong district at the wrong time.<\/p>\n In the State Senate, Republicans need to hold three competitive seats and\/or flip one or two Democrat\u00a0seats to avoid ending up in a super-minority. And it doesn\u2019t look good.<\/p>\n In Senate District 18 in Clark County \u2013 currently held by Republican\u00a0Scott Hammond<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the likely GOP nominee will be Lombardo-endorsed\u00a0John Steinbeck<\/strong>, who is currently the Clark County fire chief.<\/p>\n Conservative Assemblyman\u00a0Richard McArthur<\/strong>\u00a0also filed for this seat in the primary, but historically has had trouble raising money.\u00a0 He was able to overcome that challenge in his Assembly district but is not likely to prevail at the Senate level.<\/p>\n