LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada Democrats on Friday submitted the state's application to be the first state to hold a presidential primary in 2028.
The state faces competition from states including New Hampshire, Georgia and South Carolina.
At stake are much more than bragging rights: Early states have an outsize influence on winnowing what's expected to be a long list of presidential hopefuls.
WATCH | Nevada Democrats bid for the top spot in 2028
"We're a gambling state, right? And I'm betting it all on Nevada," said Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno, the state party's chairwoman.
Since 2008, Nevada has gone third in nominating a candidate in almost every presidential election year, but the state has never been first.
The state party's extensive application touted Nevada's diversity, ease of ballot access, progressive election laws and reasonable advertising costs as pluses for Nevada's bid.
Among the points:
- "Elevating a union-strong, diverse, truly competitive battleground state will lay the groundwork to help Democrats win back working-class voters and voters of color," the application reads. "We cannot afford to have overwhelmingly college-educated, white or less competitive states kick off the process of selecting our party's nominee."
- Nevada has a more than 30% Hispanic population, nearly 10% Black population, 10% Asian-American and Pacific Islander population and has 28 federally recognized Indian tribes.
- The state has a large union population, the highest percentage of non-college educated voters of any early state, is No. 3 for LGBTQIA population and has more than 200,000 military veterans.
- "This coalition of voters has made Nevada the most consistently competitive battleground state in the country, making it a true test of viability for winning the general election in 2028 and an ideal proving ground for any Democratic presidential contender to show they can go the distance."
- The state party will be able to pivot off the momentum of an early primary to improve organizing and register more voters. (Currently, Republicans narrowly outpace Democrats in voter registration in the state.)
- Nevada is home to media outlets that cater specifically to people of color, and the state's television advertising rates won't cause candidates to spend all their early money here.
- Nevada has mail-in voting, early voting and vote centers, which makes casting a ballot here easier than it is in some other states.
Although states such as Iowa and New Hampshire have traditionally kicked off election season, Monroe-Moreno says it's time do things differently.
"If you do things for tradition's sake, you continue to lose ground," said Monroe-Moreno. "And that's what we've been doing. Now it's time for us as a Democratic Party to put on our big boy pants or big girl pants and look outside the box and do things differently. And I say, come west, young man, come west. Come to Nevada."
Nevada's aggressive push for the No. 1 slot has been highlighted by national media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and Politico.
Nevada is definitely a swing state, voting for Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and Republican Donald Trump in 2024.
At the same time, Democrats hold both U.S. Senate seats, three of four congressional seats, both houses the state Legislature and three of the six constitutional offices. Republicans hold the governor's mansion and two constitutional offices.
In addition to its purple color, Monroe-Moreno cites Nevada's representative nature as its key strength.
"When you look in Nevada, we look like America. Not just one section of America, we look like what America is," she says. "You talk about that great melting pot. So we have a coalition here in Nevada that makes us, I think, consistently competitive, the most competitive state in the country and a presidential nominee's engagement here will be a true test of their viability of winning the general election in 2028."
The state will make an in-person pitch to the Democratic National Committee's Rules & Bylaws Committee in April, and committee members will decide on the calendar at some point after that.
Do you have questions about Nevada politics? Reach out to Steve Sebelius at Steve.Sebelius@ktnv.com.
