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With control of the U.S. Senate in jeopardy, Nevada’s protracted ballot count continues into its fourth day, as election officials count thousands of ballots ahead of Saturday’s deadline to accept mail-in ballots that eventually arrive.
Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto narrowly trailed Republican Adam Laxalt, but with tens of thousands of uncounted votes remaining largely from cities in the state In the heartland, her campaign expressed optimism that she could surpass her challenger.
Ballots are still being counted. We know this will take time and we won’t have more election results in a few days.
I have full confidence in this team. I have full confidence in the campaign we built to win. ¡ La lucha sigue!
– Kathryn Cortez Masto (@CortezMasto) November 9, 2022
The Clark County Clerk just reported that there are just over 50,000 votes left. That number includes Election Day drop-offs. We know to count rural and Washoe votes. Assuming these two at least cancel out, it would take Cortez Masto 63.5% to catch us. We are still very confident.
— Adam Paul Laxalt (@AdamLaxalt) November 10, 2022
Meanwhile, Mr Laxalter has been steadily predicting that he will remain in the lead as the count drags on.
“We’re doing everything we can to move the ballot forward as quickly as possible,” Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, said at a news conference Friday.
Mr. Gloria’s office released a table on Friday night of more than 27,000 ballots that put Ms. Cortez Masto within a few hundred votes of Mr. Laxalt and an estimated 23,000 more votes in the Democratic-dominated Democratic Party. Clark County has yet to count.
With the Senate evenly divided, Nevada is one of three indeterminate races that will decide which side controls the Senate.
If either side wins the race in the state, as well as Arizona, it will secure a majority even before Democratic Sen. Rafael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker’s December runoff in Georgia.
If the seats in Arizona and Nevada are split between the two parties, control of the Senate will be decided by Georgia.
Counting in Nevada took days, in part because the state legislature established a mail-in voting system in 2020 that requires counties to accept ballots postmarked on Election Day if they arrive four days later.
Even after the count is complete this weekend, voters will have until the end of Monday to “heal” or resolve paperwork issues with their mail-in ballots so they can be added to the final count.
Mr. Gloria said 9,600 votes were in the “cure” stage in Clark County, which is home to three-quarters of the state’s population.
Nevada, a tightly divided swing state that is one of the most racially diverse in the nation, is a working-class state whose residents have been hit especially hard by inflation and other economic turmoil.
About three-quarters of Nevada voters say the country is heading in the wrong direction, and about five-in-ten say the economy is the most important issue facing the country, according to a survey of 2,100 voters in the state.
Voters have a negative view of the economy, and VoteCast found that nearly 8 in 10 said the economy was either in good or bad shape.
Only about two in 10 called the economy excellent or good.
About a third of voters said their households were falling behind financially.
But that doesn’t necessarily translate into anger at President Joe Biden or his party.
After months of hard work, building a movement to create a strong, diverse economy, put our students first, and stop the soft crime-fighting policies that make us all less safe, everything is now It comes down to the next 24 hours. I am ready to answer the phone. Let’s take back Nevada! pic.twitter.com/y9E7MnyHkz
— Joe Lombardo (@JoeLombardoNV) November 8, 2022
Nevada, we knew it was going to be a close election, and that’s what we got.
Right now, we’re too close, and the votes are still being counted.
Please be patient as we make sure every voice is heard.
— Steve Sisolak (@SteveSisolak) November 9, 2022
About half see inflation as the most important issue facing the U.S., but they are divided on whether prices are rising due to Biden’s policies or factors beyond his control.
Nevada is also a famously “living” state, and Ms. Cortez Masto and other Democrats have made protecting abortion rights central to their campaigns.
According to VoteCast, seven in 10 people want the program to remain legal in all or most cases.
Republicans, however, have relentlessly attacked the economic argument, arguing that it’s time for a leadership change.
They’re also trying to capitalize on lingering frustration over the 2020 pandemic shutdown that ravaged Las Vegas’ tourist-centric economy.
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak trailed his challenger Republican Joe Lombardo on Thursday, though the race was also premature.
On Thursday morning, The Associated Press declared Republican Stavros Anthony the winner in the lieutenant governor race, while Republican Andy Mathews was elected state controller.
The state’s lone Republican congressman, Mark Amodei, easily won re-election in much of his rural northern Nevada region.
The Associated Press has yet to call winners for the state’s other three congressional district seats, which are currently held by Democrats.
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