A pivotal Nevada Senate race is unusually quiet for the battleground state

LAS VEGAS — In a presidential swing state where elections are typically intense contests, Nevada's U.S. Senate race has been unusually sleepy.

The campaign pits Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen — a former computer programmer and synagogue president — against Republican Sam Brown, a retired Army captain whose face is still scarred from injuries he suffered in Afghanistan. Both parties agree the state is in the midst of a tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, but that the senate race has drawn little notice, though Rosen has emerged as the favorite.

The first-term Rosen has outspent Brown by more than 3-1 in the contest, positioning herself as a nonideological senator who delivers for her home state on issues like broadband internet access and a high-speed rail connection with Southern California. Brown, who was awarded the Purple Heart, has campaigned on his biography and the state's cost-of-living crisis, particularly acute in working-class Nevada. He's had trouble gaining traction, though a last-minute infusion of GOP money in late October came as Republicans, cheered by strong turnout for their party in early voting, hoped Brown could upend expectations in the race.

“He hasn't really articulated a case for why we should get rid of Rosen, and Rosen has done a really good job of positioning herself as the prototypical Nevada Senator,” said David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Damore added that since Nevada became a state in 1864, only five of its incumbent senators have lost bids for reelection. Most have behaved like Rosen, positioning themselves as nonpartisan leaders who deliver for the state.

“There's a history of longstanding, moderate senators who have dominated Nevada politics,” Damore said.

Rosen won in 2018 when the prior senator who'd occupied that role, Republican Sen. Dean Heller, veered sharply to the right in response to attacks from Trump for not supporting the then-president adequately. The state's other senator, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, narrowly won reelection in 2022 with a similarly centrist, low-profile campaign against a Trump-backed candidate.

Trump endorsed Brown in the state's primary, but his political career predates Trump. Brown tried to run for a statehouse seat in Texas in 2014 before moving to Nevada in 2018 and unsuccessfully competing in the 2022 Republican primary to challenge Cortez Masto.

Brown in 2008 was grievously wounded by an improvised explosive device during a Taliban ambush of his unit in southern Afghanistan. He left the army in 2011 after 30 surgeries and years of recovery, founding a business to help veterans get medical care. Brown's face remains seriously scarred and has become central to his campaign ads.

“As a U.S. Senator I will proudly stand alongside Donald Trump to make American affordable, safe and strong again,” Brown said at the Republican National Convention this summer.

Rosen has hammered Brown over his stance on abortion, saying he'd vote for a national ban if sent to Washington, D.C.

Abortion until 24 weeks of pregnancy is protected in Nevada by a 1990 state law. A measure to enshrine the right to an abortion until viability — which is after 21 weeks — in the state constitution is on ballots this year. If it passes, it must pass again in 2026.

Brown describes himself as “pro-life” and contends he never filled out a 2022 questionnaire that states he opposes exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother. Brown and his wife Amy sat down for a joint interview with NBC news earlier this year describing an abortion she had before the two met.

Meanwhile, Rosen kicked off her reelection earlier this year with an ad in which she states: “Six years ago I promised to do what's right for Nevada, not my party leaders.”

Republicans need to net two senate seats to win a majority in the chamber, so every seat counts in this election. But the GOP is already well-positioned in West Virginia, where they have an open seat in a state Trump won overwhelmingly. The Republican party is confident in its odds ousting Democrats in two other red states, Montana and Ohio. So the party has not invested heavily in Nevada.

The senate race isn't the only underwhelming one in Nevada. The state has three Democratic-held House seats that could be competitive, but Republicans are significant underdogs in all of them.

“They did a horrible job of recruiting,” Damore said of the state Republican party, which has been taken over by hardline pro-Trump activists.

Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, who has represented Nevada's 1st Congressional District for more than a decade, again faces a challenge from retired Army Col. Mark Robertson. Titus defeated Robertson in 2022 by nearly 6 percentage points. Her district is reliably blue, covering Las Vegas and portions of the city's suburbs of Henderson and Boulder City.

In the 3rd Congressional District, widely considered the state's most competitive, Democratic U.S. Rep. Susie Lee is trying to defend her seat from Drew Johnson, a conservative policy analyst. The district includes a large swath of the culturally diverse Spring Valley neighborhood in Las Vegas, but also more rural areas in Clark County, which is the state's most populous.

Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, is looking to keep his seat in Nevada's sweeping 4th Congressional District that covers downtown Las Vegas and deep-red rural counties including Nye, Mineral and Esmeralda. He faces a challenge from former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, now a Republican after switching parties and running an unsuccessful primary campaign in 2022 for governor.