GOPs early Nevada voting surge could doom Harris chances in the swing state
LAS VEGAS — Nevada’s early-voting numbers show Democratic presidential-election dominance in the swing state could come crashing down next month, making former President Donald Trump the first Republican to win the state’s six Electoral College votes in 20 years.A 2020 Democratic lead of 47,000 ballots returned by this point in the cycle has been erased, with a swing of close to 53,000 Republican ballots, GOP campaign strategist Jeremy Hughes tweeted Tuesday.It’s given Republicans a nearly 6,000-vote lead in the Silver State. The changing ballot numbers come as a new AARP poll shows the ex-prez ahead of Kamala Harris in Nevada by 2 points, with independent voters over 50 preferring Trump 41% versus 27% for the vice president.A Trump win here would seriously dent Harris’ chances of keeping the White House in Democratic hands.
The veep’s team had former President Barack Obama in North Las Vegas Saturday and will bring in First Lady Jill Biden and Gov.Tim Walz during the next week in an attempt to juice turnout.Early voting in Nevada ends Nov.
1, while mail-in ballots can be received up to Nov.9 by 5 p.m.
— four days after Election Day — provided they are postmarked by Nov.5.
Mail-in and early-voting totals the secretary of state’s released show 263,410 ballots cast as of Monday, representing 13.1% of statewide turnout.The 101,231 GOP ballots cast so far lead the 95,392 Democratic ballots by 5,839, or 2.2%.
A further 66,787 ballots were cast by unaffiliated voters or those registered with other political parties.What those early ballots — in-person and postal — contain won’t be known until the polls close Nov.5.
But pundit Jon Ralston, CEO and editor of The Nevada Independent, said Monday night the GOP hasn’t seen a statewide ballot lead here since 2008, and it “could signal serious danger” for the Harris campaign.RealClearPolitics’ Nevada polling average gives Trump a 0.7-point lead over Harris, down one-tenth of a point from the...