2020 Democrats seek their fortunes in Nevada caucus
State’s diversity will pose new test in open race
LAS VEGAS – As the Democratic presidential race hurtles toward Nevada, candidates in the still-crowded field are jumping into their first test in a racially diverse state with solid union muscle and shaky plans for a presidential caucus.
Nevada has no obvious front-runner, though Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders heads into the contest on strong footing. The state has received only a sliver of the attention of the first two states on the primary calendar, Iowa and New Hampshire. Looking at the jumbled field, the state’s most powerful union decided to take a pass on endorsing a candidate, rather than make a divisive choice or risk picking a loser. Most of the state’s most prominent officials have stayed neutral.
The open race has every Democrat spending much of the next week in the state’s working-class neighborhoods, union halls, casino convention halls and stuccoed suburbs. For Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, it’s a chance to prove their staying power after strong finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. For former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, it could be a life preserver to rescue their bids after disappointing starts. For Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, it’s a chance to prove her third-place finish in New Hampshire wasn’t a fluke.
Candidates were making a get-outthe-vote push Saturday morning as early voting began and planned to attend a Saturday night fundraising gala for the Las Vegas-based Clark County Democratic Party. Several candidates were making the hourlong flight up to Reno, a city newly flush with tech money and California transplants, and are
“I talk to a lot of people who are just flat undecided at this point.” Kimi Cole chair of the Rural Nevada Democratic Caucus
due back in Las Vegas on Wednesday for the ninth Democratic debate.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who retired in 2016 and has been battling cancer, has repeatedly said he won’t endorse before Nevada’s caucuses, but he said Saturday that people should not count former Vice President Joe Biden out.
“Iowa and New Hampshire are not representative of the country. He’s going to do well in Nevada, he’s going to do extremely well in South Carolina. So, people should not be counting Joe Biden out of the race yet,” Reid said.
The 60,000-member casino workers’ Culinary Union announced Thursday it would not endorse a candidate but would work instead to get out the vote and defeat President Donald Trump in 2020. The decision was a particular blow to Biden, who has long-standing ties to the union and needed an extra boost heading into Nevada.
Early on in the race, Biden seemed to have an advantage in Nevada, with early support in Nevada’s communities of color and long ties to the state. He topped polls into early 2020, but Nevada polling has been scarce recently.
“This is his chance to shine. He’s put together a broad cross section of voters who support him,” said U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, who represents Las Vegas and has endorsed Biden.
Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford, Nevada’s lone black member of Congress, announced Friday he was backing Biden, saying in a statement that “Joe knows Nevada.”
Although Sanders lost Nevada to Hillary Clinton four years ago, he’s well situated this time. The Vermont senator has amassed an enormous campaign team that topped 250 staff last week.
And while many candidates have reached out to Nevada’s Latinos, who make up 29% of the state’s population, Sanders has reached deep into Hispanic neighborhoods. He also has a well of support in northern Nevada and on college campuses.
Sanders’ operation is also targeting voters in Nevada’s far-flung places, with plans to bus voters to caucus sites.
Kimi Cole, the chair of the Rural Nevada Democratic Caucus, said that when it comes to hitting rural voters, “Sanders is more consistent, but Buttigieg is hitting it very, very hard.”
“I talk to a lot of people who are just flat undecided at this point,” Cole said.
Buttigieg didn’t start building up his team in Nevada until August but has worked to catch up. He now has the second-biggest campaign in the state after Sanders.
Warren built up one of the first campaigns in the state, giving the Massachusetts senator’s team more time to connect with Nevadans and try to get them to the polls. Klobuchar is still largely unknown in Nevada but has tried to build up a skeleton staff quickly.
She held a late-night town hall at a downtown Las Vegas movie theater Thursday night, telling several hundred attendees that people have counted her out, but she’s kept working.
“Talk to your friends. Say, ‘You know what? That woman from Minnesota – she can do this. She can build this coalition. She needs your help. She needs our help.’ So I’m asking you to do that. Call everyone you know,” Klobuchar said.
While billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer fared poorly in Iowa and New Hampshire, he could be a contender in Nevada, where he’s blanketed the state with ads and billboards. Steyer’s past political activism established some connections for him in the state, but it’s unclear whether his smaller campaign staff can convert the name recognition into votes.
Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, who is backing Sanders, said he thinks his candidate is going to come in first or second in the state, but Steyer could surprise people and do better than expected.
“He’s spent a lot of time and money educating and bringing people in,” Segerblom said.
With Sanders trying to consolidate the most liberal voters, “our real battle is with Warren,” Segerblom said. He then amended that statement, saying, “It’s not a battle because we’re on the same side.”
The other billionaire in the race, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, failed to file in time for Nevada’s caucuses and isn’t eligible to receive votes.