LAS VEGAS (CN) – Just off the clamor and glitter of the famed Las Vegas strip, Bob Weiss – a semi-retired resident of Sin City in his 70s – exits the Post Office and explains why he is going to vote for Jacky Rosen in the looming race for U.S. Senate.
“I like the fact that she’s a Democrat,” he said. “I really don’t know that much about her.”
It’s a common refrain from many people willing to divulge their votes on an unseasonably mild Friday in the desert.
“I don’t have strong feelings about Heller,” Weiss said. “I just want somebody who will put the brakes on Trump.”
It became increasingly clear throughout the informal polling of residents in Las Vegas that the upcoming race to represent Nevada in the U.S. Senate – featuring incumbent Republican Dean Heller and Democratic Congresswoman Jacky Rosen – is less about the candidates themselves and more about their orientation to President Donald Trump.
Once thought to be a layup for Rosen, recent polls indicate the race is a toss-up with Heller narrowing the gap.
“It’s dead heat in the polls and it’s going to be close,” said Jon Ralston, a long-time commentator on Nevada politics and the editor of The Nevada Independent.
Ralston also said the race is more about Trump than either of the two candidates or their policy positions.
“I think any midterm is a referendum on the president,” he said. “But this one is especially so.”
Corey King, a 33-year-old security guard at one of the casinos, said he’s voting for Heller because he is exasperated with the Democrats’ continual obstruction of Trump and his agenda.
“He’s helped the economy, passed a travel ban, is in favor of a strong border,” King said. “He just wants to protects us and all the Democrats do is whine and bitch and try to change the Constitution.”
King said he acknowledges Trump doesn’t always behave in a presidential manner and he is not a fan of the president’s Twitter habit, but said his policies are effective and he is preventing Democrats from encroaching on his beloved gun rights.
“I just don’t want to see Nevada turn into California,” King said.
Heller, like many in the Republican party, started out keeping Trump at arm’s length, often expressing concern if not outright disgust about the president’s comportment and politics. But Heller has executed an about-face.
“Mr. President, you know a little about gold,” Heller said during a rally in Elko on Oct. 20, at which Trump spoke at length in support of the incumbent. “I think everything you touch turns to gold.”
Ralston said Heller is making a calculated decision that Trump’s popularity with the Republican base will outstrip his unpopularity among the rest of the electorate.
“Nobody can energize the Republican base like Donald Trump,” he said.
But Ralston also concedes Trump energized the opposition too, something, Rosen will need as she enters the final leg of the campaign.
“Jacky Rosen is a former computer programmer, so she’s not very charismatic,” Ralston said. “But she is a disciplined candidate. She has made very few mistakes.”