Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in Nevada, marking the first Republican presidential victory in the state since 2004.
Both candidates battled hard to win over the state’s Latino community, which accounts for one-fifth of registered voters and has historically preferred Democrats but has shifted to the right in recent years. And, in the midst of a national battle for working-class voters, the two camps made overt appeals to the state’s politically influential Culinary Union, which represents approximately 60,000 hospitality workers across the state, by supporting no-tip-tax ideas.
Trump is no stranger in the Silver State, which has six electoral votes. His gleaming gold Trump International Hotel stands just off the Las Vegas Strip, and he is longtime friends and business partners with Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin. Over the last decade, he has also formed a tight friendship with GOP state party chair Michael McDonald, one of six Republicans who signed fraudulent certificates granting Trump Nevada’s six electoral votes for 2020. During his three campaigns, the former president visited the state frequently.
Harris, from nearby California, also has strong ties to Nevada. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who met Harris while both were state attorneys general prosecuting big banks during the housing crisis, is a close confidant of the vice president.