Although one of the most politically significant states today, Nevada wasn’t always at the center of competition. Its population has more than tripled since 1980, giving it a relatively new profile amidst a rapidly shifting western political landscape.
Early History – An Empty Desert
Spanish missionaries first explored Nevada in the 1770s after it was annexed as part of New Spain. Nevada was included in the Mexican territory of Alta California, which was lost to the U.S. in 1848 after the Mexican-American War. While Mexico never had any presence in Nevada, American settlers and prospectors were already active in the region as early as 1827. Mormons were the first permanent presence in Nevada in 1851, setting up way stations for travelers during the California Gold Rush. Since there was no official government presence, religious tensions pulled Nevada in different directions, with Non-Mormons seeking annexation to California, while the Utah Territory administered the Nevada Territory as a county. After the Mormons left for Utah, the non-Mormons pushed for state status.
One of Nevada’s defining moments came in 1859, as silver was discovered at the Comstock Lode mine in Virginia City. The discovery set off a mining boom that began to attract settlers to the state – many of whom were gold miners from California – giving Nevada the nickname “The Silver State.” Nevada also had its own gold rush with the discovery of gold in Aurora in 1860. Gold is still a crucial part of the state’s economy, as Nevada today is the fourth-largest producer of gold in the world, behind China, Australia, and South Africa.
Nevada’s status as a territory was short-lived, as President Lincoln (R-IL) sought additional Union support ahead of the 1864 election. In a hasty move, Nevada’s Constitution was sent to Washington via telegram – then the longest transmission in history – just eight days before the election. Nevada was admitted as the thirty-sixth state on October 31, 1864.
During the Civil War, Nevada sent 1,200 troops on behalf of the Union. After the war, Nevada became the first state to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave black men the right to vote.
Nevada handily backed Lincoln in the 1864 election, but as one of the three electors was snowbound, the state only cast two electoral votes, resulting in one of just three occasions in history a state or the capital sent less than three electoral votes to the college.
Republicans would win every election in Nevada until 1880, as Winfield Hancock (D-PA) narrowly won the state on pledging to control immigration from China.
From its inception, Nevada would develop a profile as a reliable bellwether state. Nevada has only voted for the losing candidate of a presidential election eight times of the forty elections in which it has participated. Much of this has had to do with its historically transient population, creating a much swingier, less consistent electorate.
Industrialization and the 20th Century – The Silver Party
Homesteading experiments were done at the turn of the century in hopes of increasing dry cattle grazing, but the environment was inhospitable to most forms of agriculture. Railroads proved somewhat unreliable as well, as floods, fires, developing road infrastructure, and fluctuating amounts of ore from mining towns made it difficult for them to be profitable.
Gold discovery in the city of Tonopah ushered in a new political era in Nevada, as several men of different backgrounds converged on the town and would later dominate state politics for decades. These included George Nixon, a banker, editor, and cofounder of the Silver Party; Key Pittman (D), who would serve as a U.S. Senator; Vail Pittman (D), Key’s brother, who would serve as Governor of Nevada; and George Thatcher, leader of the state Democratic Party.
Iowa Congressman James Weaver would win Nevada in a landslide in the 1892 election on his Populist ticket and would be won by William Jennings Bryan (D-NE) in 1896. Bryan also ran on the Populist and Silver tickets, garnering him 81% of the vote, the strongest performance of any candidate in Nevada’s history. Much of the Populist strength was due to calls for bimetallism, an economic practice of defining silver as a monetary unit and creating a rate of exchange between silver and gold. The concept of free silver was also a national concept at the time, as intentionally inflating the currency sought to buoy industrial and agricultural sectors affected by deflation and depression of the 1890s.
Nevada is the only state to have elected both Senators and Congressional representatives of the Silver Party. By 1902, the Silver Party and other silver organizations like it were absorbed by the state Democratic Party.
Nevada’s heavily transient culture affected its identity as much as its economy. Organized religion – namely Catholicism – was difficult due to no consistent congregational base. Italian immigrants who moved to the state to become miners later became farmers or ranchers, but still affected the state’s religious culture with their ardent anticlericalism.
The year 1931 became one of the most pivotal in Nevada’s history. The defined social structure in an otherwise disorganized state led to soft positions on practices like gambling and prostitution. During the Great Depression, Nevada legalizing gambling in 1931 as a short-term fix, but its repealment has never been seriously considered; gambling taxes now account for 34% of Nevada’s revenue. On the other hand, brothels have been tolerated in Nevada since the mid-1800s. In 1937, a law was enacted to require weekly health checks of all prostitutes. Today, prostitution is legal in ten of Nevada’s seventeen counties. Ironically, Clark County, home to Las Vegas, is not one of them.
In 1931, Reno reduced the residence requirement for divorce to six weeks, making it a famous site for quick divorces.
1931 is also the year the Hoover Dam was constructed, at the time the largest single public works project in U.S. history, creating Lake Mead, today the largest reservoir in the country.
World War II benefitted Nevada – namely Reno and Las Vegas – immensely, as open land and sunny conditions gave way to military bases and airfields. In the 1950s, the state became the prime site for nuclear testing and military research, prompting the establishment of the secretive Area 51 in 1955.
Nevada would continue to be a swing state for most of the 20th Century, backing the Republicans of the 1920s, the New Deal Democrats of the 1930s and 1940s before settling into a more rural, Republican-Libertarian mindset in the 1970s. The state voting streak for the GOP from 1968-1988 is the longest for any party in Nevada’s history.
Geography – Two Swing Cities
Nevada’s political geography consists of the blue-leaning urban counties of Clark (Las Vegas) and Washoe (Reno).
- Clark County – Although a consistently Democratic county, Clark is not a staunch “blue” county. The last Republican to win here was George H. W. Bush in 1988; the GOP has only won Clark six times since 1912, all in national landslides. Clark consists of 75% of Nevada’s population today, but its blue-leaning status keeps the state healthily competitive. A poor Democratic showing in Clark usually means a statewide loss.
- Washoe County – Home to Reno in the northwestern part of the state near Lake Tahoe and extending up to the Oregon border, Washoe is the second swing county in Nevada. Formerly a GOP stronghold – it only backed Democrats once between 1944 and 2004 – Washoe is now a quintessential swing county that still leans slightly Democratic. It has more rural parts than Clark County, producing much closer results on a regular basis. George W. Bush is the last Republican to have won Washoe County in 2004.
- Exurban Nevada – The rest of Nevada’s counties used to be more Democratic, as the party pertained more to working-class voters and organized labor. The high mining population made the state a solid fit during the New Deal. However, as the state became a GOP stronghold during the 1970s and 1980s, the rural regions became intensely Republican and have remained that way since.
Current Political Leanings – An Eternal Swing State
Nevada’s current lean consists of an intrinsically libertarian-conservative base, one that is intrinsic to most Western states. A history rooted in mining and gambling, and an aversion to big government, big business, and big labor, gives it a unique individualistic profile that influences the state’s politics today. On paper, Nevada should be more sympathetic to the Democratic Party, with diverse suburbs and decent control of the state’s urban centers. However, an ever-fluctuating population, a shift of the Latino vote to the GOP, and low percentage of college degrees keep the state in the balance every year.
Democrats control both U.S. Senate seats, having flipped one in 2018. The GOP has not held both simultaneously since 1954.
Democrats were in a gubernatorial drought from 1999-2019 until Steve Sisolak (D) won the open seat amid the 2018 blue wave. He was denied a second term in 2018 by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo (R), mainly serving as a referendum on the Democratic Party’s handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic. COVID affected Nevada more negatively than most states, as the tourism and services industries make up a significant portion of the state’s economy.
Nevada regularly receives outsized attention during election years, especially in presidential elections. In addition to being a perennial swing state on every level, the Nevada Caucuses are an early litmus test of presidential viability ahead of Super Tuesday. Going forward, Nevada finds itself squarely in the eye of the hurricane as both parties scramble to redefine themselves nationally.
