LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — At Channel 13, we're committed to answering your questions about the community we all share.
Senior Political Reporter Steve Sebelius takes on a question from Bob, who is moving to Nevada from Illinois and asks, "Can you share three things that a recent transplant should know about politics in Nevada?"
The first and most basic thing to know about Nevada is that it's a swing state, so named because it swings back and forth between the two main political parties in statewide elections.
Going back decades, both Republicans and Democrats have been elected governor in Nevada, although Republicans have had better luck since former state chief executive Bob Miller left office in early 1999. The GOP held the governor's mansion until 2018, when then-Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, won.
Sisolak was unseated by current Gov. Joe Lombardo in 2022, after a tenure rocked by the response to the global coronavirus pandemic.
In terms of presidents, Nevada almost always votes for the winner of the national election. One exception was 2016, when Hillary Clinton won Nevada but lost the Electoral College to President Donald Trump. He came back to win the state, the Electoral College and the presidency again in 2024.
And while both current U.S. senators are Democrats, Republicans have held those offices as well, as recently as 2018.
Generally, those statewide elections are close, befitting Nevada's swing-state status.
The second thing important for a newcomer to know about Nevada politics is that it's really made up of three distinct regions, sometimes called the three Nevadas.
First, Clark County, where nearly two-thirds of all Nevadans live. The state's most populous county is still a reliably blue area, with more than 437,000 Democrats versus 359,000 Republicans. (There are nearly 600,000 nonpartisans, whom we'll talk about below.)
Next, there's Washoe County, home to Reno and the annual Burning Man festival. There, registration is much closer: Republicans outnumber Democrats by just more than 10,000 voters, making it the state's swing county.
Finally, there's the rest of the state, 15 rural counties that are home to mines, ranches, military reservations and the vast wide open spaces for which Nevada is known. (Nearly all of that acreage is under federal control; Nevada has more federally owned and managed land than any other state.)
The rurals, as they're known, are reliably red, voting almost exclusively for Republicans for federal, state and local offices.
The final thing to know about Nevada politics is that political registration in the Silver State is changing, and nonpartisans are on the rise.
Nonpartisans currently make up fully 38% of Nevada's electorate, the largest segment by far. (Republicans and Democrats comprise about 28% each, with third parties accounting for the rest.)
Part of the explosion in nonpartisan registration stems from the 2020 law that automatically registers voters when they visit the DMV to get a drivers license, change their address, or do other business.
That's led to the registration of many so-called "zombie voters," people who are eligible and registered to vote, but who have no interest in political participation and likely won't ever cast a ballot.
But the trend toward nonpartisans was underway long before the 2020 law, statistics maintained by the Nevada secretary of state's office show, as the major parties lost members and nonpartisan numbers grew.
The trend makes planning political campaigns more difficult, but it is a sign that many Nevada voters are tired of the partisan fights taking place in Washington, D.C. and, increasingly, in Carson City.
It also points to Nevada's true character as an independent, even libertarian western state, a source of pride to many Nevadans.
If you have a question about politics, campaigns, elections or government, you can Ask Steve by sending an email to Steve.Sebelius@ktnv.com or by clicking on the banner below:
