Nevada Senate Race Unusually Quiet for a Battleground State

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 5, 2024 (AP) — In a presidential swing state where elections are typically intense contests, Nevada's U.S. Senate race has been unusually sleepy.

The campaign pits Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen — a former computer programmer and synagogue president — against Republican Sam Brown, a retired Army captain whose face is still scarred from injuries he suffered in Afghanistan. Both parties agree the state is in the midst of a tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, but that the senate race has drawn little notice, though Rosen has emerged as the favorite.

The first-term Rosen has outspent Brown by more than 3-1 in the contest, positioning herself as a nonideological senator who delivers for her home state on issues like broadband internet access and a high-speed rail connection with Southern California. Brown, who was awarded the Purple Heart, has campaigned on his biography and the state's cost-of-living crisis, particularly acute in working-class Nevada. He's had trouble gaining traction, though a last-minute infusion of GOP money in late October came as Republicans, cheered by strong turnout for their party in early voting, hoped Brown could upend expectations in the race.