LAS VEGAS \u2014 Democratic volunteers bustled in and out of a crowded room with a buzz of excitement last week, swapping their Biden-Harris signs for ones that read \u201cHarris for President.\u201d The campaign\u2019s southwest Las Vegas office was reopening, just days after an embattled President Biden dropped out of the race to an outpouring of enthusiasm for the vice president.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to finally see this place full again,\u201d one volunteer said, holding her new \u201cStop Trump\u201d sign as she tried and failed to find a seat.<\/p>\n
Democrats here hope that \u201cKamala-mentum,\u201d as the internet has dubbed it, has changed the 2024 presidential race so much that they will be able to hold on to swing states like this one, which recently seemed to be slipping from their grasp as prospective voters dismayed with Biden\u2019s handling of the economy looked to Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Though Nevada has not voted for a Republican president since 2004, Biden\u2019s support among Latino and young voters had been ebbing here, according to a June Fox News poll. That poll and others found Trump with small leads over Biden. But in this young, diverse swing state, Democrats hope that Harris may appeal to voters who felt unrepresented by two elderly White male candidates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hearing a lot of newfound excitement,\u201d said Maria Nieto Orta, 24, president of the Young Democrats of Nevada. \u201cI think that is really coming from the vice president not only being a woman, but a woman of color and being younger. I think we really resonate with that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 3,000 Nevadans have signed up to volunteer for Harris since she became the likely nominee. Nationally, the campaign has raised $200 million and recruited over 170,000 new volunteers, according to an internal campaign memo seen by The Washington Post.<\/p>\n
Harris campaign staff are delighted by the infusion of energy and hope that the vice president\u2019s outspoken stance on abortion rights also could help swing female suburban voters who might have otherwise voted for Trump. But Harris aides here acknowledge they have a big task ahead translating that enthusiasm into votes.<\/p>\n
The Post interviewed more than two dozen voters in Las Vegas and found that, though their politics were split, almost all wanted to see a major change in November. Votes are still up for grabs across Vegas, a heavily working class city grappling with what people here describe as deep economic problems: an unemployment rate that is still among the highest in the country, rising housing costs and some of the highest gas prices in the nation.<\/p>\n
Political operatives on both sides of the aisle believe the presidential race in Nevada will be close, and although some polls have shown Democrats regaining ground among young people and Latinos, they also continue to suggest that Harris is widely unpopular.<\/p>\n
Nevada operatives point to nonpartisan voters \u2014 independents who have chosen not to tie themselves to any party and who represent a bigger portion of the electorate than either party \u2014 as key targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis nonpartisan group is very diverse and young,\u201d said Sondra Cosgrove, a professor at the College of Southern Nevada and executive director of the civic engagement nonprofit Vote Nevada. \u201cSo any party that reaches out to them and really listens to their issues could benefit in a big way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Harris campaign has made a concerted effort to piggyback on the vice president becoming the Gen Z meme sensation of the month. She launched a TikTok account last week and embraced \u201cBrat\u201d summer in a bid to engage younger voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has literally been trending on Twitter for the past five days and to me that is so insane,\u201d Nieto Orta said. \u201cEven my nonpolitical friends are sending me these tweets and TikToks.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lot of people her age simply feel that it would be \u201creally cool\u201d to say that they voted for the first female president, she added. \u201cI feel like the excitement that was felt for Obama back in 2008 is being felt for the vice president in our generation now.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there is palpable enthusiasm from younger voters online, some said that they still feel \u201cdeeply let down\u201d by the Democrats.<\/p>\n
For Ashley Hart, 26, who spoke to The Post while having drinks with her sister in downtown Las Vegas, Biden abandoning the ticket has given her \u201ca little bit of hope\u201d that Democrats might win, \u201cbut not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hart sees a growing sense of anger over the political system as a whole, particularly among younger voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year it feels like it\u2019s becoming more of a statement to not vote,\u201d which she hears around her a lot \u2014 she said, before acknowledging that she does feel as though Gen Z may turn out to vote more strongly for Harris than they would have for Biden.<\/p>\n
The meme-ization of the vice president feels \u201csilly\u201d to those in Hart\u2019s friendship group, which she says care more about the policies on the table, but does seem like \u201csmart marketing\u201d to get younger people to the ballot.<\/p>\n
Others, including 21-year-old Jaden Allen, said that they would rather vote for an independent than Harris, despite not wanting another Trump term. \u201cWho wants a meme of a president?\u201d he asked. \u201cWe need someone who is less hated if we want to beat him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vegas\u2019s reliance on tourism gutted its economy during covid, and the city was particularly slow to bounce back. Though the economy is growing again, some working people here say they are still not feeling the effects. Unemployment here is half of what it was when Biden took office, but Nevada is still tied with California for the second-highest unemployment rate in the country.<\/p>\n
Inflation has also hit voters here hard. Packing away her groceries in a Costco parking lot under 108-degree heat, Raeshawn Gaines bemoaned the state of the economy. Her bimonthly shop was $200 more than last time, and her utility bills have risen \u201castronomically,\u201d she said. This month Las Vegas saw a seven-day streak in which it broke its record for highest daily temperatures. \u201cI\u2019ve even had someone out to check the AC unit to see if that\u2019s why it\u2019s costing more \u2014 even though I leave it at 78 year around \u2014 but it\u2019s not that,\u201d she said. As a voter who says she has always prioritized issues of the day over loyalty to one party, she represents a key target for Republican campaigners who blame Biden for the state\u2019s economic problems.<\/p>\n
Though Gaines had been leaning toward not voting for Biden, she now firmly believes that come November she will vote for Harris.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust for the historical win,\u201d she said. \u201cFor a face that looks like mine to be in the White House. For someone that understands what I go through as a woman. I would definitely vote for her,\u201d said Gaines, who is Black.<\/p>\n
In interviews, several Nevada voters who are considering Trump cited the state of the economy.<\/p>\n
Maria Rubi, 52, said she voted for Biden in 2020. But as she tries to grapple with what she describes as ever increasing prices for her desserts business, her choice in this election is clear: \u201cI want Trump,\u201d she said as she left a supermarket in the Las Vegas suburbs. \u201cThings were supposed to be good under Biden, but no. Everything is always going up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sam Brown, the GOP nominee to face incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in November, has argued that the Biden-for-Harris swap makes no difference in his race, which could determine which party controls the Senate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who the Democrats put at the top of the ticket \u2014 the truth is that their radical, destructive policies put them completely out of touch with Nevadans, and Americans around the country,\u201d he posted on social media this week.<\/p>\n
But some Republican voters may be more motivated to vote against Harris than they were to turn out against Biden.<\/p>\n
Harris is a bigger threat to the future of the country than Biden, according to Chris Rumar, 87, a lifelong Republican. \u201cShe believes in everything that would ruin this country,\u201d she said, without elaborating, as she shopped in Spring Valley. \u201cMore so than Biden. I at least had some sympathy for him,\u201d she said, \u201cand he put us in inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a state that can be swung with just a few thousand votes, Nevada\u2019s Culinary Union \u2014 60,000 people strong \u2014 is a political powerhouse. Come September, when the union\u2019s organizers start their door-knocking campaign, they hope to be able to harness the new energy behind Harris to draw nonpartisan voters to the polls.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s decision to abandon the race was \u201cunsettling\u201d for the union, said Ted Pappageorge, the union\u2019s secretary-treasurer.<\/p>\n
But Harris \u201cis dynamic,\u201d he added. \u201cShe just is. Nobody can deny that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Democrats to win, particularly in Las Vegas, they must stay focused on a strong economic message \u2014 one that offers answers to the housing crisis embroiling the city, Pappageorge argued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has got to stay very tough on this economic message that she is going to be the \u2018Housing President,\u2019 the president that is going to make sure that people can afford their rents and they can afford to own their own homes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cosgrove, the College of Southern Nevada professor, said that housing is one of the main issues her students bring up.<\/p>\n
While the two parties trade attacks on the economy, abortion and immigration, her students ask: \u201cWho is talking about the fact that my rent keeps going up? Why can\u2019t I get a lease that is longer than six months?\u201d<\/p>\n
Most polls have shown that Latino voters in particular, who make up 20 percent of the electorate in Nevada, are still making up their minds.<\/p>\n
Housing \u201cis not one of those pressure point \u2018be angry or be afraid\u2019 type issues,\u201d Cosgrove said of the parties battling for votes. \u201cThey need to come in with something concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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