The Clark County Commission has taken a significant step forward in its 1 October Memorial project by designating the non-profit Vegas Strong Fund to oversee fundraising, design, and construction. This decision follows a comprehensive effort by the 1 October Committee, which concluded last summer after gathering extensive input from victims’ families, survivors, and the broader community.
Every Detail Requires Careful Consideration
The memorial project aims to commemorate the tragic events of 1 October 2017, during the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Fifty-eight people lost their lives during the shooting, with hundreds more injured before the perpetrator took his own life. While this tragedy left a lasting scar, it will hopefully unite the local community in reverence to the victims.
August 2021 saw MGM donate two acres for a permanent memorial, launching the ongoing project by the Clark County Commission. A survey collected information regarding the artistic and educational features of the permanent memorial, ensuring it would accurately reflect the community’s views and sentiments. The Vegas Strong Fund can now use this information to plan the construction’s finer details.
The Vegas Strong Fund organization has the expertise and dedication to ensure the memorial we create will be a lasting tribute.
Kevin Schiller, county manager of Clark County
County manager Kevin Schiller emphasized the significance of this milestone in a process that began in 2019 with the formation of the 1 October Memorial Committee. The project seeks to honor the memory of the victims, pay tribute to the survivors and first responders, and celebrate the resilience and compassion of the Las Vegas community.
The Memorial Project Is in Safe Hands
As part of the Commission’s decision, donations totaling $143,986 from the County’s 1 October Memorial Fund will be transferred to the Vegas Strong Fund. This fund was established at the request of the 1 October Committee to accommodate public donations for the memorial and should help launch the project in earnest.
The memorial project will expand upon the concept developed by JCJ Architecture, which features a tower of light, 58 vertical candles representing the victims, and a community plaza. Commissioner Jim Gibson, whose district includes the festival site, expressed confidence in the Vegas Strong Fund’s ability to deliver a world-class memorial while respecting the community’s wishes.
The Vegas Strong Fund is the right non-profit group to help us create a world-class memorial that honors all those affected by the events of 1 October.
Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson
With the project set in motion, construction should begin soon. This designation of the Vegas Strong Fund marks a significant milestone in the journey toward creating a memorial that honors the memory of those lost, recognizes the bravery of survivors and first responders, and symbolizes the unity and strength of the Las Vegas community.
February saw a flurry of activity in Southern Nevada, propelled by the excitement of Super Bowl 58, the celebration of Chinese New Year, and a significant leap year. While some records remained intact, the gaming industry reached new heights, marking another exceptional month for Nevada’s tourism sector. Ongoing investments in infrastructure should ensure the state retains its momentum.
Most Metrics Saw Substantial Improvements
The state’s 434 leading casinos raked in an impressive $1.34 billion gaming revenue, representing an 8.5% surge compared to February 2023. Nevada Gaming Control Board data revealed this achievement secured the title of the best February ever for the casino sector, making it the fifth-best month in history for the Strip and the sixth-best for the state.
The average daily room rate skyrocketed to $248.35, marking a remarkable 40.6% increase from the previous year. Although falling just shy of November’s record, this surge reflects a robust demand for accommodations in the region. Hotel occupancy reached an impressive 83.9%, representing a 1.7% increase from February 2023.
These occupancy rates are even more impressive considering the recent openings of Fontainebleau and Durango, which brought Las Vegas’ room inventory to an all-time high. While February’s high-profile events significantly benefited the hospitality sector, it also revealed several deficiencies in the Strip’s infrastructure, primarily revolving around the frequent traffic jams and lack of alternative transportation.
Vegas Should Continue to Impress
While the Super Bowl, Chinese New Year festivities, and the leap year undoubtedly contributed to February’s success, the month also witnessed many performances that attracted crowds of visitors to Las Vegas. Shows by renowned artists such as Bruno Mars, Christina Aguilera, Adele, and U2 further fueled the city’s magnetic appeal and bolstered local businesses.
Convention attendance followed this positive trend, rising to 764,800 attendees – the highest number since March 2023. Michael Lawton, Control Board senior economic analyst, was impressed by February’s results, highlighting spectacular all-around performance despite the month’s short length. If this trend continues, Vegas should be well on its way to shattering previous revenue highs.
It was a pretty incredible month, and if there were 31 days, we might have set an all-time record for gross gaming revenue.
Michael Lawton, Nevada Gaming Control Board senior economic analyst
While February did not break many records, the robust gaming win exceeded expectations, delighting analysts and investors alike as gaming revenue on the Strip climbed 12.4% year-on-year. As the region continues to attract visitors with its world-class entertainment, gaming, and hospitality offerings, the outlook remains promising for Southern Nevada’s tourism sector.
When President Biden flies into Nevada on Monday and to Arizona the following day, he’s likely to compliment the West’s natural beauty, pay homage to the unmatched political power of the Culinary Workers Union and nod to local Democratic elected officials.
Another truth about his visit to the two Southwestern states may remain unspoken: Though together they are home to only about 3% of the U.S. population, Arizona and Nevada are expected to have an outsize influence on the outcome of the 2024 presidential race.
With Arizona’s 11 electoral votes and Nevada’s six, the states collectively hold more voting power than Georgia, another closely contested state that both Democrats and Republicans believe they can win — as Biden and former President Trump engage in the first rematch of presidential contenders in nearly 70 years.
Having secured enough delegates last week to become their parties’ presumptive nominees, the two oldest major-party candidates in American history are facing off in a presidential rematch that most people saw coming and many hoped to avoid.
The race pits a president languishing in the polls against a challenger facing multiple criminal indictments. It gives citizens asking for change a chance to vote for more of the same, unless they opt for a long-shot third-party candidate.
Many Americans have said they don’t like it. They wish the stress of a country that feels perpetually at odds would just stop.
“Everything is kind of haywire and crazy,” Trevean Rhodes, a security guard at a Las Vegas supermarket, said last week. “Normalcy is a thing of the past.”
Nevada has gone to the Democrats in four straight presidential elections, but by thin margins. Biden won Arizona in 2020, though Republicans prevailed in all but two of the last 12 presidential cycles there.
Recent public polling in both battleground states shows Biden trailing Trump, but both sides have said they expect close contests. And both states have already received substantial attention, especially from the Democrats.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Phoenix recently to talk about abortion, and in late January stopped in Las Vegas, where she called Trump a threat to democracy. Biden’s trip this week will take him to Reno, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
His events in Arizona are expected to focus on Latino voter engagement, sources familiar with his travel told The Times. The trip comes amid a $30-million advertising barrage from Biden’s campaign across all of the battleground states. (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia are the others.)
Former President Trump, in Las Vegas for the Nevada GOP’s caucuses last month, blasted his rival’s handling of migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Trump, stopping in Las Vegas before Nevada’s GOP caucuses in early February, slammed Biden’s handling of the mounting number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and called human trafficking of migrants “a weapon of mass destruction” against the U.S.
Even as the candidates gear up for their marathon to election day with more than seven months to go, interviews with more than two dozen voters, elected officials and political consultants in Arizona and Nevada revealed a collective ennui about Biden vs. Trump 2.0.
“There’s a voter fatigue, I think,” said Arizona House Minority Whip Nancy Gutierrez, a Democrat. “People are just sick of being bombarded, with no bipartisanship and no working together on many of the same issues.”
Democrats say Biden must do more to highlight what they claim as his accomplishments, including job creation tied in part to an infrastructure law that brought public works to Nevada and Arizona, and passage of a bipartisan gun control measure that increases background checks for younger firearm buyers.
They also cite the president’s efforts to protect access to abortion and contraception via executive orders after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe vs. Wade, and his support for a robust U.S. presence internationally, including through aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Republicans plan to rely on what they contend was America’s stronger standing during Trump’s four-year tenure in Washington, citing high levels of employment and lower inflation as hallmarks of his administration.
Trump, working to stay connected to his base in Arizona after his failed efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat, appears at a right-wing gathering in Phoenix in 2021.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
Trump also claims credit for building up the wall dividing the U.S. and Mexico to reduce illegal crossings, as well as for pushing through $3.2 trillion in tax cuts, appointing Supreme Court justices who rejected the nationwide right to abortion, pulling the U.S. out of trade agreements he said hurt American workers, and clearing the way for the U.S. to become the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas.
The state of the economy, a perennial centerpiece of presidential electioneering, is cited more than any other issue as the top concern in Nevada, which saw its unemployment rate spike to more than 30% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unemployment in the state is just over 5% now, still the highest in the country. But even some with jobs express concern that high inflation has made it harder for them to pay their bills.
At a supermarket on the east side of Las Vegas last week, two men demonstrated the breadth of the disagreement about how the economy is doing.
Alberto Cardona said he didn’t care about all of the economists saying inflation had tapered off.
The electrician said they were “lying,” and he saw proof, literally, in the pudding. He said he paid 99 cents for a carton of pudding at the supermarket when Trump was president. Now it costs $1.47. He blamed Biden and other Democrats for the upswing, saying they supercharged inflation by overspending “and printing money that they don’t have.”
“Everything’s terrible right now. I’m living paycheck to paycheck, trying to support my family,” said Cardona, 50. He said he would vote for Trump.
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A few minutes later, Fernando Alcazar pronounced himself ready to vote for Biden.
“Look at what he’s done and where the country is headed,” said the 52-year-old gambling industry consultant. “The economy is good, and we’re going in the right direction.”
Though inflation has climbed much higher in earlier eras, the low inflation of the last two decades or so has made the recent upswing feel disabling, especially to younger people, said Stephen Miller, research director at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
But he said people’s views of the economy could be reshaped in the coming months.
“Between now and early fall, if grocery prices come down and gasoline prices come down, the mood will change,” Miller said. “We’ll see.”
Rep. Steven Horsford, a Democrat who represents Clark County in the U.S. House and chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, said that’s why it’s key for Biden to remain on point.
“You can’t only focus on the accomplishments, of which there are many,” Horsford said. “You’ve also got to talk about what you plan to do going forward.”
Biden smiles for supporters’ selfies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, last week after speaking on improving healthcare and lowering prescription drug prices.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
In both Nevada and Arizona, Democrats say access to abortion should be a winning issue for Biden. They described a wave of anger among their voters that followed the reversal of Roe.
Organizers hope to put measures supporting abortion access on the ballot in both states. Though a Nevada law protects access to abortion there, a political action committee is gathering signatures to qualify a measure that would enshrine abortion access into the state Constitution. The measure would apply for pregnancies of up to 24 weeks. Activists in Arizona are charting a similar course.
Republicans have a ballot measure of their own in Nevada: one that would require voters to present identification when they go to the polls.
The proposal responds to belief among conservatives that elections have seen widespread tainting by ineligible voters casting ballots. Though claims of such voter fraud have seldom been substantiated, they are accepted as a matter of faith, and are therefore highly motivating, to many in the GOP.
Immigration is a major campaign issue again. Here, migrants from Colombia wait at the southern border for U.S. officials to transport them to apply for asylum.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
With migrant crossings from Mexico to the U.S. hitting a high in recent months, even Democrats in cities well north of the border have expressed concern about the burden newcomers put on infrastructure and public services.
Republicans plan to focus intensely on the issue.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona’s Republican primary this summer, said Biden’s policies supporting migrants underscore an inherent unfairness in the minds of voters he’s met. Along with the economy, Lamb said, nothing angers his constituents more than the sense of disorder at ports of entry and in communities where migrants enter the country.
“They’re very angry with the misappropriation of tax funds used to put these people up in hotel rooms, to give them transportation on airplanes and to give them, in some cases, gift cards, while we have American veterans and we have Americans who are homeless and are struggling,” Lamb said.
Democrats like Alcazar, the gambling industry consultant in Vegas, said it’s unfair and inaccurate to blame Biden for the surge of migrants. He noted that the White House had hammered out an immigration overhaul deal with congressional Republicans that included increased border security, only to have the GOP back away when Trump signaled his opposition.
“It was their chance to step up and do something about the issue,” Alcazar said. “But they didn’t follow through. Instead, they wanted Trump politics.”
In a nod to Arizona’s many Republican voters, Biden honored the late Sen. John McCain last fall in remarks on democracy in Tempe, Ariz. The two served across the Senate aisle from each other for over two decades.
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)
As the oldest president at 81, Biden has faced repeated questions about his mental acuity and fitness to serve.
Robert Bailey, a political independent, said he has voted for candidates of both parties in the past, but wouldn’t consider Biden this time.
“He can’t remember things he needs to remember,” said Bailey, 57, a street performer in Las Vegas. “People just help him stay in office and get his job done.”
Some say Trump, 77, also shows signs of aging.
But more challenging critiques grow out of the dozens of criminal charges he faces — on allegations of illegality related to his attempts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia and his stashing of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and of obstruction of justice; of having a role in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory; and of falsifying records related to hush money allegedly paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“We understand that Trump wants to take us backwards,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat. “You have Donald Trump running a campaign of creating doomsday scenarios and seeking retribution against his political opponents.”
Romero said Biden has a list of accomplishments that her constituents will feel the benefits of for decades. She cited the nearly $100 million that’s flowed to her city from the infrastructure and inflation-reduction measures he’s championed.
In Nevada, meanwhile, the Biden campaign will remind 12,000 residents about the student loan relief they got from the administration, and tell 22,000 seniors not to forget how Democrats capped the price of their insulin prescriptions.
Diane Farajian, 65, said that Trump was slow to respond to the coronavirus surge, and that he makes her uneasy. The retired Las Vegas blackjack dealer plans to vote for Biden, though she said she usually supports Republicans for the White House.
“We need good people in there,” Farajian said. “There was just so much trouble when Trump was in office.”
Beyond the neon lights of Las Vegas and the historic streets of Reno lies small towns in Nevada like Fallon and Boulder City. These towns invite explorers to discover the quieter, yet equally captivating, side of the Silver State. In this Redfin article, we’ll take a closer look at 10 of these charming towns – each with their own distinct personality and history.
Whether you’re thinking about buying a home in Nevada or just want to learn more, join us as we journey through Nevada’s small towns, where the spirit of the West lives on in modern times.
In the heart of the Lahontan Valley lies Fallon, a town that thrives on its agricultural roots and community spirit. Residents and visitors alike enjoy the Fallon Cantaloupe Festival & Country Fair, celebrating one of the town’s most famous crops. The local Naval Air Station adds a unique dynamic to the area, providing a mix of military and agricultural influences. Love the outdoors? Local outdoor enthusiasts relish the nearby Lahontan State Recreation Area, offering ample opportunities for boating, fishing, and camping.
Winnemucca, nestled in the heart of Nevada, is a gateway to the vast and beautiful Humboldt County. This town is famous for its Basque culture, showcased in annual festivals and its renowned Basque restaurants. The Winnemucca Sand Dunes, a short drive from town, offer adventure seekers a playground for off-roading and sand sports. The town’s rich history is preserved in the Humboldt Museum, where visitors can learn about the local heritage and the California Trail.
On the edge of Nevada and Utah, West Wendover offers a blend of entertainment and natural beauty. This town is known for its casinos, drawing visitors looking for gaming and shows. Just beyond the neon lights, the Bonneville Salt Flats provide a starkly beautiful landscape, famous worldwide for land speed records.
Boulder City stands as a monument to the American spirit, originally built to house workers constructing the Hoover Dam. Today, the town is a haven for history buffs and outdoor adventurers alike, with the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead National Recreation Area offering both historical tours and a plethora of water-based activities.
Ely’s rich history is deeply intertwined with the Nevada Northern Railway, where a museum now operates with original railway equipment and offers rides through the scenic Nevada landscape. The town is also a gateway to the Great Basin National Park, offering stunning views of ancient bristlecone pines and dark night skies perfect for stargazing.
Yerington is a treasure trove of agricultural and historical richness, surrounded by fertile lands and the scenic beauty of the Mason Valley. Yerington’s annual events, like the Night in the Country Music Festival, draw crowds for their vibrant celebration of community and music. Additionally, the nearby Walker River provides ample fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities, making it a beloved spot for locals and visitors.
Humorously known for its title as the “Armpit of America,” Battle Mountain embraces this with a sense of humor and pride, hosting an annual festival that attracts visitors with its quirky charm. The town serves as a hub for outdoor activities, with the Shoshone OHV Trails offering miles of paths for off-road enthusiasts. The Copper Basin Mountain Bike Trail provides a challenging terrain for cyclists, showcasing the rugged beauty of Nevada’s landscape.
Sun Valley, located on the outskirts of the bustling city of Reno, offers a unique blend of suburban tranquility and easy access to urban amenities. The community is well-liked for its friendly atmosphere, with numerous parks and recreational areas where locals can enjoy the great outdoors. The annual Sun Valley Days festival celebrates the community with food, music, and family activities. Its proximity to Reno means residents can enjoy the best of both worlds – the peace of suburban life with the convenience of city living.
Spring Creek is a community that thrives amidst the Ruby Mountains, offering residents and visitors unparalleled access to the outdoors. The Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a short drive away, is a haven for birdwatchers and nature lovers. The area’s golf courses provide scenic views for a leisurely game, while the nearby Lamoille Canyon offers breathtaking vistas and hiking trails. Spring Creek’s commitment to preserving its natural beauty while fostering a tight-knit community spirit makes it a unique place to call home.
Gardnerville Ranchos lies in the picturesque Carson Valley, offering stunning views of the Sierra Nevada. The town is known for its peaceful, rural lifestyle with easy access to outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, and skiing. The annual Carson Valley Days Festival brings the community together with parades, carnival rides, and live music. Gardnerville Ranchos’ blend of natural beauty and community events make it an ideal place for those seeking a serene yet exciting place to live.
A former congressional candidate and retired professional wrestler, suspected of being involved in an accident at a Las Vegas Strip hotel that resulted in the death of one man reportedly surrendered to the police. The aforementioned accident involves Christopher Tapp, a 47-year-old man who passed away early in November after an altercation at a Halloween Party dating back to October 29. The suspect in the case is Daniel Rodimer, a 45-year-old former political candidate and retired wrestler.
David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, the lawyers representing Rodimer in the case confirmed in a statement released by The Associated Press that he is “voluntarily surrendering to authorities and will post a court-ordered bail.” Moreover, the lawyers wrote: “He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected.”
The announcement comes after local media outlets confirmed that the Clark County Justice Court opened a murder case against Rodimer. A warrant for his arrest was also issued by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD). The bail set for the suspect was $200,000.
A few years ago, in 2020, Rodimer competed for the third congressional district seat in Nevada. At the time, he lost against Rep. Susie Lee who had approximately 13,000 more votes. The next year, Rodimer attempted to secure Texas’ sixth congressional district seat. Sadly, just like his first political attempt, he didn’t win the seat.
Before his political career, Rodimer used to be a popular professional wrestler. Back in 2006, he entered into a development contract with WWE for one year. Besides a former political candidate and professional wrestler, the 45-year-old is also a former football player.
Altercation Results in the Death of One Person
The altercation where Rodimer was allegedly involved put him at a party that took place on October 29, 2023, at Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip. According to local media outlets, Rodimer was at a Halloween party along with Tapp and other guests. The event took place in a hotel suite and reportedly included celebrities, including Instagram influencers.
Different witnesses confirmed that on the night of the party, a fight broke out between Tapp and Rodimer. One witness alleged the former political candidate and wrestler hit Tapp, who was the victim. After that, the victim allegedly fell on the floor but hit his head in the process. The same witness claimed Rodimer proceeded to hit Tapp around his body, including his head.
Resorts World security attended the hotel suite and found Tapp who couldn’t tell them his name. Minutes later, the victim was rushed to Sunrise Hospital by paramedics. He passed away a week later on November 5, 2023.
A powerful blizzard raged overnight into Saturday in the Sierra Nevada as the biggest storm of the season shut down a long stretch of Interstate-80 in California and gusty winds and heavy rain hit lower elevations, leaving tens of thousands of customers without power.
Up to 10 feet of snow is expected in some areas. The National Weather Service in Reno said late Friday it expects the heaviest snow to arrive after midnight, continuing with blizzard conditions and blowing snow through Saturday that could reduce visibility to one-quarter mile or less.
“High to extreme avalanche danger” is expected in the backcountry through Sunday evening throughout the central Sierra, including the greater Lake Tahoe area, the weather service said.
California authorities on Friday shut down 100 miles of I-80 due to “spin outs, high winds, and low visibility.” They had no estimate when the freeway would reopen from the California-Nevada border just west of Reno to near Emigrant Gap, California.
A lone camper truck moves north bound on the I-80 at the Donner Pass Exit on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Truckee, California.
Andy Barron / AP
Pacific Gas & Electric reported around 10 p.m. Friday that 24,000 households and businesses were without power. More than 25 million people are under winter weather alerts as the storm wallops the area.
A tornado touched down Friday afternoon in Madera County and caused some damage to an elementary school, said Andy Bollenbacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Hanford.
Some of the ski resorts that shut down Friday said they planned to remain closed on Saturday to dig out with an eye on reopening Sunday, but most said they would wait to provide updates Saturday morning.
Palisades Tahoe, the largest resort on the north end of Tahoe and site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, said it hoped to reopen some of the Palisades slopes at the lowest elevation on Saturday but would close all chairlifts for the second day at neighboring Alpine Meadows due to forecasts of “heavy snow and winds over 100 mph.”
“We have had essential personnel on-hill all day, performing control work, maintaining access roads, and digging out chairlifts, but based on current conditions, if we are able to open at all, there will be significant delays,” Palisades Tahoe said Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The storm began barreling into the region on Thursday. A blizzard warning through Sunday morning covers a 300-mile stretch of the mountains.
Workers clear sidewalks with snow blowers during a snowstorm, Friday, March 1, 2024, in Truckee, Calif.
Brooke Hess-Homeier / AP
Some ski lovers raced up to the mountains ahead of the storm.
Daniel Lavely, an avid skier who works at a Reno-area home/construction supply store, was not one of them. He said Friday that he wouldn’t have considered making the hour-drive to ski on his season pass at a Tahoe resort because of the gale-force winds.
But most of his customers Friday seemed to think the storm wouldn’t be as bad as predicted, he said.
“I had one person ask me for a shovel,” Lavely said. “Nobody asked me about a snowblower, which we sold out the last storm about two weeks ago.”
Meteorologists predict as much as 10 feet of snow is possible in the mountains around Lake Tahoe by the weekend, with 3 to 6 feet in the communities on the lake’s shores and more than a foot possible in the valleys on the Sierra’s eastern front, including Reno.
Yosemite National Park closed Friday and officials said it would remain closed through at least noon Sunday.
A Nevada database glitch led to misinformation about the state’s Feb. 6 presidential preference primary and voter fraud.
A Feb. 19 Instagram post shared a screenshot of an X post that says, “Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former President Jimmy Carter found vote by mail to be ‘the largest source of potential voter fraud.’ The media will try to gaslight you into believing there are no issues with it but they are misleading the American people.”
The X post shared a link to a Las Vegas Review-Journal article, and text with the article link said, “Numerous Nevada voters looked at their voter history and found that their mail ballots were counted in the recent primary, even though they didn’t participate in it.”
(Screengrab from Instagram)
The Instagram post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The full Review-Journal article explained that a database coding glitch occurred but did not affect election results.
In Nevada, all voters receive mail ballots for each election they are qualified to participate in, unless a voter opts out. A majority of voters in Nevada cast ballots by mail.
The Instagram post linked the recent Nevada database glitch to voter fraud, but Nevada election officials said the two are unrelated.
“I want to be clear that this issue had nothing to do with the tabulation of votes or results of any election,” Secretary of State Francisco V. Aguilar, a Democrat, said in a Feb. 22 statement. “There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in our state, now or ever.”
Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, posted Feb. 19 on X, “The voter history glitch on the website does not impact vote tabulation, which happens at the county level,” and shared a link to an article with that information.
Both the Instagram post and the X post it shared were from Sean Parnell, a former Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump before dropping out in 2021. Parnell is a U.S. Army veteran who hosts a podcast.
We asked Parnell to send us evidence that voter fraud occurred in Nevada. He replied in an email that the point of his Instagram post was that “mail in voting is not the best way to conduct an election. It is also not the best way to build confidence in the electorate, the latest issue in Nevada is just one recent example.” (Parnell’s full response is linked at the end of this story.)
Other people echoed Parnell’s claim. Elizabeth Helgelien, a Nevada Republican congressional candidate, said in a Feb. 18 X post that her online voter history showed she voted in the primary, although she did not. Helgelien said “voter fraud” appears to be happening in Nevada.
Nevada secretary of state’s office said glitch occurred
Nevada held its presidential preference primary Feb. 6. President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary while “none of these candidates” received the most votes in the Republican primary — more than former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Former President Donald Trump did not appear on the ballot because he competed in the caucus instead.
About two weeks after the primary, voters notified the secretary of state’s office that, although they did not participate in the primary, the state’s website showed in their vote history that they had cast mail ballots.
The secretary of state’s office said in a Feb. 21 memo that a miscommunication in computer code caused the glitch, “based on the state and counties interpreting the same data in different ways.”
Nevada has a “bottom-up” voter registration system in which counties send copies of their voter registration files to the state nightly via a secure upload. The state then stitches together 17 files from different systems and combines them into a statewide file.
The counties use the mail ballot code “MB.” Until the 10th day after an election, the state database interprets “MB” to mean that a mail ballot has been sent to a voter. After the 10th day, the system interprets the “MB” code to mean the mail ballot was counted.
In prior elections, counties took steps to ensure that this code was applied only to ballots of people who had voted. But some of those steps did not happen after the Feb. 6 presidential preference primary, the memo said.
The coding issue didn’t affect the election results, the memo said.
Bottom-up systems have not been considered a best practice for decades, and the state will move to a new “top-down” system before this June’s primary election, in accordance with a 2021 law passed by the Legislature.
Voter fraud occasionally occurs, but on a very small scale and not enough to change the outcome in a presidential election. After Biden won Nevada in the 2020 presidential election, the state’s Republican party shared a story about a Republican voter, Donald Kirk Hartle, who claimed someone cast a mail ballot in his dead wife’s name. Hartle himself later pleaded guilty to one count of voting more than once in an election, because he had cast the ballot in his dead wife’s name.
The Heritage Foundation’s database of voter fraud shows only one other Nevada voter fraud conviction since 2020. Craig Frank was convicted in 2021 after voting in both Nevada and Arkansas during the 2016 general election.
Parnell also sent us a 2012 New York Times article that said, “While fraud in voting by mail is far less common than innocent errors, it is vastly more prevalent than the in-person voting fraud that has attracted far more attention, election administrators say.” The article included anecdotal examples including a woman in Hialeah, Florida, who was charged with forging an elderly voter’s signature and possessing 31 completed absentee ballots, more than allowed under local law.
Election website glitches or clerical errorsoccasionallyhavehappened in other jurisdictions. But these problems are typically from human error, and do not signal fraud.
Instagram post cherry picks one sentence from 2005 report
The Instagram post says that the “Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former President Jimmy Carter found vote by mail to be ‘the largest source of potential voter fraud.’”
Republican critics of voting by mail, including Trump, pluck one sentence from a 2005 report Carter co-wrote that said, “absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.”
Although the nearly 20-year-old report generally communicated a dim view of absentee voting, it didn’t call for its elimination. Instead, it recommended ways to improve security and called for further research.
Since then, security improvements have been implemented, including:
States have added technologies so voters can track their own mail ballots.
Many states are part of a consortium to share voter registration data to flag outdated registrations, reducing the chance that a mail ballot is sent to someone who has died or who is no longer eligible to vote at that address.
In 2020 and 2021, Carter defended the use of voting by mail. He said that given advances in the process, he believed it could be conducted “in a manner that ensures election integrity.” Carter said he had cast mail ballots for years.
Our ruling
An Instagram post said a Nevada database glitch showing voters cast ballots when they didn’t is evidence that voting by mail is “the largest source of potential voter fraud.”
A database coding glitch issue meant that some Nevada voters saw an inaccurate vote history online — showing their mail ballots as counted even if the voters did not vote — after the Feb. 6 presidential preference primary. The Nevada secretary of state said the glitch was unconnected to vote tabulation and did not affect the election results.
The post’s quote comes from a report Carter co-wrote in 2005 that highlighted mail voting’s vulnerabilities but did not call for its elimination. Since then, security improvements to voting by mail have been implemented.
Carter has since said that voting-by-mail safeguards have advanced, that mail-in-voting can be done safely and that he votes by mail himself.
We rate this statement False.
CORRECTION, Feb. 24: An earlier version of this story said Parrnell did not reply to our request for comment. Parnell did reply via email but in an error on our part, we did not see his response before publication. We updated the fact-check with his comments, and you can read his full response here. We regret the error.
When Varlin Higbee eyes the scrubby forest of pinyon pines and juniper trees that fill the high desert outside this old Union Pacific Railroad town, there’s just one thought that crosses his mind:
“They’re just a wildfire waiting to happen,” the Lincoln County commissioner says of the low, bushy trees.
And Higbee is not alone in his distaste for the plants.
Lincoln County Commissioner Varlin Higbee, 63, in the rural eastern Nevada community of Caliente, Nev., which he believes would benefit from a plan to harvest pinyon and juniper trees to make methanol.
(Louis Sahagun / Los Angeles Times)
Despite the many uses Native Americans once had for pinyon-juniper woodlands — not the least of which was sustenance from pine nuts — ranchers and federal land managers throughout the American Southwest have now come to regard them as a highly flammable and invasive scourge.
In parts of California and much of the Great Basin, land owners have declared war on pinyon pines and juniper trees, clearing them from rangelands with chains, bulldozers, saws and herbicides. At the same time, the trees are drawing increasing interest as a source of renewable energy — such as in California’s Lassen County, where 150,000 tons of the trees are fed into the Honey Lake Power Plant each year to generate energy for customers including San Diego Gas & Electric.
Most recently, Higbee and other Nevada officials have proposed converting them into green methanol — a biofuel that could be used for everything from generating electricity to powering cargo ships calling on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
In January, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a declaration of understanding with Denmark to develop an industrial park in Lincoln County where methanol would be extracted from wood and used as a fuel additive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from diesel engines.
To hear Lombardo tell it, it’s a match made in heaven.
“This innovative and collaborative technology project produces clean renewable energy, while simultaneously utilizing trees that need to be thinned out to maintain a healthy forest,” Lombardo said.
Environmental groups, however, have blasted the plan. Among other criticisms, they say the deal with Denmark sets the stage for a fight over the future of an ecologically rich landscape, much of which has remained untouched by the glitz and bustle of Las Vegas and Reno.
Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch, an advocacy group focused on the impact of bioenergy development, dismissed the proposal as “a technological dead end road and heartbreaking waste of healthy trees.”
A Maersk line container ship from Denmark awaits unloading at the Port of Los Angeles. Denmark is looking to the state of Nevada to convert pinyon pine and juniper trees into biofuel that could be used to power cargo ships.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Denmark — which is home to Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company — has pledged to become 100% fossil fuel free by 2050, and bioenergy is a key part of that ambitious effort.
“Denmark is at the forefront of renewable energy developments and closer collaboration between Nevada and Denmark can only strengthen our joint quests to create economic growth and well-paid jobs — while also doing good for the environment and our planet,” read a statement from Danish Ambassador to the U.S. Jesper Møller Sørensen.
Nevada officials want to locate the facility in the middle of about 1.3 million acres of pinyon-juniper woodlands in public lands some 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The proposed site is also crossed by a Union Pacific mainline that terminates at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The facility, according to officials, could attract $260 million in investments, create 150 sorely needed local jobs and become a model for creating similar industrial parks in other parts of Nevada.
But there are significant environmental issues involved in scalping eastern Nevada’s mountainous public lands of century-old trees standing 15 to 20 feet tall.
“I’d be surprised if this proposal is successful,” Hughes said. “So far, efforts to produce methanol from wood at scale for the aviation industry, for example, have all failed.”
Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director for the Center for Biological Diversity, called it a new chapter in “our nation’s 200-year-long war on pinyon-juniper ecosystems.”
“Each generation finds a new excuse to justify their destruction because they don’t provide the economic benefits obtained from tall pine trees favored by the timber industry,” he said.
“Now, it seems the state of Nevada is popping champagne corks because it believes it has found a way of making money from the trees,” Donnelly said. “But I see it as a short-term carbon benefit at the expense of the long-term carbon sequestration benefits provided by a healthy forest.”
The development of renewable energy facilities — solar, wind, geothermal and biomass — on public lands has been a top priority of the federal government as it seeks to ease the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and curb global warming.
With that goal in mind, the Bureau of Land Management is working closely in Lincoln County with the governor’s economic development office, engineers in Denmark, and Sixco Nevada Inc. — a consortium of companies focused on deployment of new technologies — to develop the proposal.
In the eyes of the BLM, pinyon pine and juniper trees are weedy species that invade sagebrush rangelands and increase the risk of wildfire. They say an overabundance of pinyon-juniper woodlands fueled the 2022 Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak fire in New Mexico, which burned 341,735 acres, a state record.
But environmentalists argue that the loss of the trees outweighs the benefits of biofuel and biomass production.
Pinyon-juniper woodlands absorb atmospheric carbon through the process of photosynthesis, and have been widespread for thousands of years in much of Nevada and Utah, as well as portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming and Baja California. Critics of the biofuel project say the woodlands’ role in carbon storage is critical to battling climate change.
Environmentalists also worry that the loss and degradation of pinyon-juniper woodlands will pose a significant threat to a number of animal species, including the bright blue pinyon jay, which is under consideration for listing as a federally endangered species.
Lincoln County Commissioner Varlin Higbee, center, walks with Derick Hembd, right, president of Sixco Nevada, a consortium of firms focused on infrastructure, and Bill Vinnicombet, a Sixco Nevada energy finance advisor, at the proposed site of the tree harvesting and biofuel production project northeast of Las Vegas.
(Louis Sahagun / Los Angeles Times)
The Western Watershed Project and Center for Biological Diversity have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the BLM’s approval of a plan to remove pinyon-juniper forests across more than 380,000 acres of sagebrush shrublands on federal land in eastern Nevada.
The lawsuit claims the plan would eradicate habitat for imperiled sage grouse and pinyon jays with techniques including “chaining” — the dragging of an anchor chain from a U.S. Navy vessel between two bulldozers in order to uproot and crush pinyon-juniper forests and sagebrush.
Derick Hembd, president of Sixco Nevada, said the governor’s proposal calls for using shears and saws to harvest individual trees, leaving saplings and sagebrush untouched.
It remains to be seen, however, whether concerns over the future of pinyon jays and other creatures threaten to stall or derail the project in rural Lincoln County, which is best known as a gateway to the secretive Area 51 U.S. Air Force military installation.
But Higbee, 63, has high hopes for the proposal that could also breathe new life into struggling rural communities such as Caliente, where the population of about 1,100 people hasn’t budged in decades.
“We need to grow,” Higbee said with frustration. “I’m going to do everything in my power to get this project up and running.”
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The five Marines who died when their helicopter crashed during a storm in the mountains outside San Diego have been identified.
The servicemembers were aboard a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter that was traveling during bad weather from Creech Air Force Base in Clark County, Nevada to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California for “routine flight training.” The crashed helicopter was found Wednesday, and the Marines were all confirmed to have died on Thursday morning.
On Friday, the Third Marine Aircraft Wing identified the Marines as Lance Cpt. Donovan Davis, 21, Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, Capt. Jack Casey, 26, and Capt. Miguel Nava, 28. Davis and Langen were helicopter crew chiefs, and Moulton, Casey and Nava were helicopter pilots.
All five were assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
According to a statement from Third Marine Aircraft Wing officials, Davis, of Olathe, Kansas, enlisted in the Marine Corps in Sept. 2019 and had received multiple medals, including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Lance Cpt. Donovan Davis.
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Langen, of Chandler, Arizona, enlisted in the Corps in Sept. 2017 and had received decorations including the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
“We will miss him dearly,” his mother Caryn Langen told KNSD-TV of San Diego.
Sgt. Alec Langen.
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Moulton, of Emmett, Idaho, commissioned in the Marine Corps in March 2019 and had received the National Defense Service Medal.
Capt. Benjamin Moulton.
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Casey, of Dover, New Hampshire, joined the corps in May 2019 and also received the National Defense Service Medal.
“Capt. Jack Casey gave his life while serving his country,” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said in a statement. “Valerie and I are deeply saddened as we mourn the loss of these five Marines. Capt. Jack Casey’s death is a profound loss for his family, his community, New Hampshire, and the country.
.
Capt. Jack Casey.
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Nava, of Traverse City, Michigan, commissioned in the Marine Corps in May 2017 and had received decorations including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Capt. Miguel Nava.
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Davis and Langen were both crew chiefs and the rest were CH-53E pilots, officials said.
“We have been confronted with a tragedy that is every service family’s worst fear,” said Lt. Col. Nicholas J. Harvey, commanding officer of HMH-361, in a statement. “Our top priority now is supporting the families of our fallen heroes, and we ask for your respect and understanding as they grieve. The Flying Tigers family stands strong and includes the friends and community who have supported our squadron during this challenging time. We will get through this together.”
Kerry Breen is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.
Donald Trump swept Nevada’s caucuses on Thursday, The Associated Press projected, a widely expected result for the former president in a race where he faced no real competition.
Nevada’s caucuses were an unusual contest that also featured a nonbinding primary in the state earlier this week.
What You Need To Know
Former President Donald Trump, as expected, swept Nevada’s caucuses on Thursday, according to a projection from The Associated Press
The caucuses were held just two days after Nevada held a nonbinding primary, which saw Trump’s only remaining major competition, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, lose to the option of “none of these candidates” by more than 30 points
The dual contest stems from a split between recent state law requiring primary elections and Nevada’s Republicans wanting to keep their caucuses they have been holding since the 1980s
On the Democratic side, meanwhile, President Joe Biden cruised to an easy victory on Tuesday, winning the contest and the state’s 36 delegates with nearly 90% of the vote
The Nevada contest came after Trump clinched a win in the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Republican caucus earlier Thursday
Trump’s supporters waited in long lines on Thursday to cast their votes for the GOP frontrunner. One site, a Reno-area elementary school, saw nearly 1,000 people waiting in line to try and help the former president win another primary contest on his road to a third Republican presidential nomination.
At a watch party in Las Vegas, Trump hailed “tremendous turnout” and the “enthusiasm” of his supporters in the Silver State contest.
“Is there any way we can call the election for next Tuesday? That’s all I want,” he added.
The contest came after Trump clinched a win in the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Republican caucus, giving him another four delegates. Trump beat his only remaining major GOP rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, with nearly 74% of the vote.
“I want to thank you all. We had a tremendous victory,” he said by phone to supporters in St. Thomas. “We expected to win, but we didn’t expect to win by that much. You are incredible people I will never forget.”
The nature of the Silver State’s dueling contests stems from a split between recent state law requiring primary elections and Nevada Republicans wanting to keep their caucuses they have been holding since the 1980s.
The result? A pair of contests, one which sees the frontrunner Trump in the caucuses — with just little-known long shot candidate Ryan Binkley on the ballot with all 26 of the state’s delegates at stake — and the other a state-sanctioned primary on Tuesday that yielded no delegates.
Haley, who participated in Tuesday’s contest, sought to downplay the results, which saw her lose to the option of “none of these candidates” by more than 30 points.
“We didn’t even count Nevada,” she said. “That wasn’t anything we were looking at. We knew it was rigged from the start, our focus is on South Carolina, Michigan and Super Tuesday.”
Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney echoed those claims earlier this week: “We have not spent a dime nor an ounce of energy on Nevada. We aren’t going to pay $55,000 to a Trump entity to participate in a process that is rigged for Trump. Nevada is not and has never been our focus.”
Nevada State Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid pushed back on those criticisms, per ABC News, calling Haley’s remarks “baseless allegations.”
Haley, DeGraffenreid said, “deliberately chose to not compete with the leading candidates and now wants a scapegoat,” per the outlet.
On the Democratic side, meanwhile, President Joe Biden cruised to an easy victory, winning the contest and the state’s 36 delegates with nearly 90% of the vote over “none of these candidates” (5.8%) and Marianne Williamson, who suspended her campaign on Wednesday after her loss in Nevada.
While Republicans could vote in both contests, Trump recently urged his supporters to keep their eyes on the prize: “Don’t worry about the primary, just do the caucus thing.”
Republicans are increasingly converging behind Trump while he faces a deluge of legal problems, including 91 criminal charges in four separate cases. Trump is flexing his influence both in Congress — where Republicans rejected a border security deal after he pushed against it — and at the Republican National Committee, as chairwoman Ronna McDaniel could resign in the coming weeks after he publicly questioned whether she should stay in the job.
Trump still faces unprecedented jeopardy for a major candidate. A federal appeals panel ruled this week that Trump can face trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, rejecting his claims that he is immune from prosecution. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments in a case trying to keep Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The justices sounded broadly skeptical of the effort.
But none of those developments seem to be hurting his standing among Republicans, including in Nevada.
Spectrum News’ Joseph Konig and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Washington — CBS News projects that former President Donald Trump will win the Nevada Republican caucuses Thursday, easily defeating challenger Ryan Binkley.
Nevada’s Republican voters had another chance to vote for their preferred presidential candidate in Thursday’s caucuses, with Trump on the ballot this time.
But even without Trump on Tuesday’s ballot, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who participated in Tuesday’s primary instead of the caucuses, finished second behind “none of these candidates,” an embarrassing defeat as she seeks to sell herself as a serious challenger to Trump.
When were the Nevada Republican caucuses?
The caucuses began at 5 p.m. and ended at 7:30 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET. Caucusgoers can stay for the entire meeting or cast their secret ballots and leave.
Why wasn’t Nikki Haley a candidate in the caucuses?
In 2021, Nevada implemented new election laws, including changing the state-run presidential contest to a primary. Still, the Nevada Republican Party said it would hold separate caucuses and penalize candidates who participate in the primary by making them ineligible to receive delegates.
Trump opted to take part in the party-run caucuses instead of the state-run primary.
The Nevada Republican Party barred candidates who appeared on the primary ballot from participating in the caucuses.
What were the results of the Nevada primary?
“None of these candidates” was the top vote-getter on Tuesday, with Haley coming in second. Former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who dropped out of the race well before the primary but were still on the ballot, placed third and fourth, respectively.
What were the Nevada GOP caucus results?
Trump, the Republican frontrunner, was the only major candidate on the caucus ballot. Little-known candidate Ryan Binkley, a pastor and businessman, was also on the ballot.
What is the current Republican delegate count?
Before Nevada’s caucuses, Trump had an estimated 33 delegates, compared to Haley’s 17. The Nevada caucuses allocate 26 delegates.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
John Dickerson reports on a Trump ballot eligibility case before the Supreme Court, the DOJ refusing to charge President Biden over his handling of classified documents, and how Las Vegas is preparing to welcome hundreds of thousands of Super Bowl fans.
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Every four years, candidates bet big on Nevada, but in order to hit the jackpot in November, they need to win over the state’s key demographic: Latinos. Ed O’Keefe reports from the Silver State.
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Super Bowl 2024 is setting the stage not just for a showdown between top NFL teams, but also for a major environmental milestone. This year, the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will host a Super Bowl powered entirely by renewable energy — a first in the history of the event.
The seemingly desolate area of the Nevada desert is the source of the green energy used to power the game.
A vast solar farm with over 621,000 panels shimmers like a mirage but with the capability to power close to 60,000 residential customers — or one very big stadium.
The Las Vegas Raiders, which call Allegiant Stadium home, have entered into a 25-year agreement to buy power from this new solar installation owned by NV Energy.
CEO Doug Cannon said that the solar installation would supply more than 10 megawatts of power for the Super Bowl. This amount of energy is roughly equivalent to the consumption of 46,000 homes.
Sustainability was front of mind as the stadium was being constructed, according to Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan.
The stadium’s roof is made of a sustainable plastic material that allows in about 10% of daylight but blocks all solar heat, so it takes less energy to cool the building. The grass field is moved outdoors on a rail system to get natural sunlight rather than using energy-intensive growing lights. And everything from grass clippings to food scraps and cigarette butts are composted or converted into other forms of energy.
“When you come to a game you may be thinking about just focusing on the game but when they hear that and know that we’re being conscious of our environmental footprint, hopefully that guest will leave and have that same mindset when they go back home,” said Morgan.
The Super Bowl’s green energy push was highlighted during a visit from U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who inspected the stadium’s main electrical entry room.
“People sometimes get nervous about renewable power because they’re not sure if it’s going to be reliable. The fact that renewable power can power a facility like this reliably should speak volumes about what could happen in other communities,” Granholm said.
The solar farm not only powers the current needs but also houses massive batteries to store renewable energy, ensuring a five-hour power supply even when the sun isn’t shining. This technology is seen as a key component in transitioning the U.S. power grid toward 100% clean electricity by 2035, a goal set by President Biden.
Despite the focus on environmental sustainability, the Super Bowl’s entertainment, including a halftime show featuring performer Usher, will not be compromised.
“We have enough power for Usher and all of his lights and all the fanfare that’ll be there,” said Cannon.
Ben Tracy is CBS News’ senior national and environmental correspondent based in Los Angeles. He reports for all CBS News platforms, including the “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell,” “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
The top vote-getter in Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary in Nevada wasn’t former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the only major candidate on the ballot still in the race. Instead, Nevada voters mounted a ballot-box protest and gave the most votes to “None of these candidates,” a ballot option required by state law.
CBS News projected the “none of these candidates” category as the winner, with Haley finishing with the second-most votes. With 61% of precincts reporting, “None of these candidates” had received about 61% of the vote, with Haley significantly behind with 32%.
Former President Donald Trump did not appear on the ballot. Gov. Joe Lombardo, Nevada’s Republican chief executive, endorsed Trump and publicly indicated his intent to cast his ballot for “none of these candidates.” A significant number of Trump supporters appear to have followed the governor’s lead.
Initial returns showed “none of these candidates” leading in seven counties that Trump carried in his 2016 Nevada caucus win.
Besides Haley, the seven-person GOP primary field included former candidates Mike Pence and Tim Scott, who both dropped out of the race after the primary ballot had been locked in, as well as four relatively unknown hopefuls.
The victory for “none of these candidates” has no official impact on the race for the GOP presidential nomination, since the primary was non-binding and had no delegates at stake. The Nevada Republican Party opted to hold a presidential caucus Thursday to award delegates and has essentially disavowed the primary.
Republican voters who cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary are also allowed to participate in Thursday’s binding caucuses, but the state party has barred candidates who appeared on the primary ballot from also competing in the caucuses, forcing candidates to choose one event over the other. Haley chose to compete in the primary, while Trump opted to compete in the caucuses, where he faces only one candidate and is expected to win most or all of the delegates up for grabs.
“None of these candidates” has appeared as an option in statewide races in Nevada since 1975. The ballot option can’t be elected to an office; the winner would be the candidate with the highest number of votes. For example, in the 2014 Democratic primary for governor, “None of these candidates” was the top vote-getter with 30% of the vote, but former state official Bob Goodman, who placed second with 25% of the vote, nonetheless won the nomination and advanced to the general election.
“None of these candidates” also placed second in both the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries in 1980. Ronald Reagan scored an overwhelming win with 83% of the vote, but “None of these candidates” was a distant second with about 10% of the vote, just ahead of George H.W. Bush. In the Democratic race, incumbent President Jimmy Carter won the event with about 38% of the vote, followed by “None of these candidates” with about 34% and Ted Kennedy in third place with about 29% of the vote.
President Joe Biden has won the Nevada Democratic primary while former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley lost the Republican race despite frontrunner former President Donald Trump not appearing on the ballot, according to projections from the Associated Press (AP).
With 88.8 percent, Biden defeated author Marianne Williamson and nearly a dozen other long-shot challengers, according to AP projections, which showed the option for “None of These Candidates” coming in second with 6.4 percent of the vote. Williamson came in third with 3.2 percent. The outlet called the race at 11:39 p.m. EST, not long after polls closed at 10 p.m. EST in Nevada.
One of Biden’s rivals, Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, chose not to compete in the state but vowed to stay in the race at least through the Michigan primary.
For the Republican primary, the AP called the race at 12:01 a.m.
Haley placed second with 32.4 percent, trailing the GOP ballot option of “None of These Candidates,” which had 61.2 percent.
Despite the second-place finish in Nevada, Haley’s team showed no signs of dropping out of the presidential race. Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for Haley, told Newsweek in an email that her campaign is “full steam ahead.”
“Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots the house wins,” Perez-Cubas told Newsweek. “We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond.”
The GOP hopefuls face a key test in Nevada, a swing state in the general election where Latino voters, a demographic with whom Republicans hope to make gains, make up a third of the population.
Newsweek on Tuesday night reached out via email to Biden and Trump representatives for comment.
President Joe Biden departs the White House to board Marine One on January 27, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Biden on Tuesday won the Nevada Democratic primary. President Joe Biden departs the White House to board Marine One on January 27, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Biden on Tuesday won the Nevada Democratic primary. Getty
Why Wasn’t Trump on the Ballot?
Trump, the GOP front-runner after decisive victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, was not on the ballot due to a change in the state’s election laws.
While Nevada’s presidential primary is one of the earliest nominating contests of the campaign season, it is largely symbolic.
Nevada is traditionally a caucus state, where voters attend precinct meetings and divide into different groups backing separate candidates, rather than voting on a primary’s ballot. However, the state passed a law that requires political parties to hold state-run primary elections if more than one candidate files for the race.
As a result, Republicans are holding a caucus on Thursday, where voters will be able to select Trump. Nevada Republicans can vote in both the primary and caucus but the candidates had to choose to appear in one.
The Republican Party will use the caucus results, rather than the primary, to determine who will win the state’s 26 delegates.
On the Democratic side, only a state-run primary was held in Nevada.
What’s Next?
While South Carolina already held its Democratic primary, Republican voters can cast their ballots in the Palmetto State, where Haley served as a two-term governor, on February 24.
Michigan will hold its primaries on February 27, followed by a slew of states on March 5, known as Super Tuesday.
Update 2/7/24, 12:27 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and comment from Perez-Cubas.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
President Biden is in South Carolina this weekend ahead of his party’s first primary of the year, while former President Donald Trump held a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he did not mention the $83.3. million judgement against him in the E. Jean Carroll case. Christina Ruffini reports.
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While appearing on the ABC talk show “The View” on Wednesday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris admitted to the liberal co-host Joy Behar that she is “scared as heck” of the former President Donald Trump ahead of this year’s presidential election.
Harris Is ‘Scared As Heck’
At one point in the interview, Behar asked Harris about concerns over the state of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
“President Obama reportedly has said that he thinks the Biden campaign is too complacent when it comes to Trump,” she began. “Representative Jim Clyburn has said the campaign isn’t breaking through the MAGA wall. Michelle Obama says she’s terrified, as we are, about the potential outcome of the election.”
“Now, are you scared?” Behar asked. “What could happen if Trump ever became, God forbid, president again? And what are you going to do to stop the crazies?”
“I am scared as heck!” Harris bluntly responded. “Which is why I’m traveling our country.”
“You know, there’s an old saying that there are only two ways to run for office: Either without an opponent or scared,” she continued. “So on all of those points, yes, we should ALL be scared.”
This is evil.
The sitting Vice President of the United States is fearmongering about their political opposition on national television.
Harris went on to bring the interview back to the issue of women and children.
“But as we know, and certainly this is a table of very powerful women,” she said. “We don’t run away from something when we’re scared. We fight back against it. Right. Yeah. So many of us know when we are scared for the future of our children, do we then stay in bed with the covers over our head? Nope. No we can’t. We cannot. We cannot. And this is where this election requires brightly that President Biden and I and and all of us who are part of this administration, we got to earn reelection.”
“There is no question,” she concluded. “We got to be on the road. Listen, since the in the last two weeks I’ve been to Georgia, I’ve been to Nevada, I’ve been to North Carolina, I’ve been to South Carolina twice. In the first two weeks of this year, I will be out on the road. We have to earn the reelect and we have to communicate what we have achieved, and that is going to be one of our big challenges. We’ve done a lot of good work. We need to let people know who bring it to them.”
Harris’ Unpopularity ‘Could End Up Being A Difference-Maker’
Harris has good reason to be “scared as heck,” as her approval rating fell from 41.7 percent to 36.3 percent last year while her disapproval increased from 51.7 percent to 53.7 percent, according to analysis by polling website 538. Thomas Gift, who heads up the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek last month that Harris’ unpopularity “could end up being a difference-maker” in the 2024 presidential election.
“To realize just how unpopular Kamala Harris is, you have to keep in mind the historical significance of it all,” Gift said. “No one in her position has had this low of favorabilities in a first term since Dan Quayle. That’s saying something. So it’s no surprise, especially with Biden’s age, that Republicans keep hammering home a simple point: a vote for Biden is a vote for Harris.
“While it’s usually the top of the ticket that drives voting, and that will be true again in 2024, Harris’ abysmal popularity will matter on the margins,” he added. “And with next year’s election poised to be close, those margins could end up being a difference-maker.”
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Daily Mail reported that Judge Mary Kay Holthus from the Clark County District Court was in the middle of sentencing Deobra Delone Redden for aggravated battery with substantial bodily harm after denying him bail when he leaped from where he was standing into the judge’s bench and attacked her. As he lunged at the stunned judge, Redden could be heard saying, “nah f*** that b*tch.”
Both Holthus and her marshal tried to dodge the attack, but Redden overtook them and proceeded to beat up the judge. Harrowing video footage shows Redden repeatedly hurl punches at the judge while shouting expletives as security officers tried to restrain him.
Judge Holthus begged Redden to get off of her, but he continued the attack until he was finally subdued. Judge Holthus reportedly “experienced some injuries” from this attack, but was not hospitalized. Her marshal, however, was rushed to the hospital and had to receive stitches for a head injury.
“We commend the heroic acts of her staff, law enforcement, and all others who subdued the defendant,” Las Vegas District Court told Channel 13. “The court remains committed to a safe and secure courthouse and courtrooms.
“We are reviewing all our protocols and will do whatever is necessary to protect the judiciary, the public, and our employees,” the statement added.
Redden, 30, has an extensive criminal history in both Nevada and Texas. Records show that he was also facing charges for battery, robbery, assault, injury to property and coercion.
Convicted violent felon Deobra Redden was facing sentencing for GBH in Las Vegas. Expected not to be jailed the judge rejected a suspended sentence.
He called Judge Mary K. Holthus a “f—king bitch” & lunged at her, giving her a beating. pic.twitter.com/94FchhmfvS
Earlier in Wednesday’s hearing, Redden had asked the judge for leniency, describing himself as “a person who never stops trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is.”
“I’m not a rebellious person,” he told the judge as he argued that he should not be sent to prison, according to ABC News. “But if it’s appropriate for you then you have to do what you have to do.”
Judge Holthus, however, was not having any of it, and she made it clear that she intended to send Redden to prison.
“I appreciate that but I think it’s time he got a taste of something else, because I just can’t with that history,” Judge Holthus said, according to NBC News.
This was enough to cause Redden to become irate and attack the judge.
“It happened so fast it was hard to know what to do,” said Richard Scow, the chief county district attorney who prosecuted Redden.
Here’s the full video: District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus was violently attacked by a criminal defendant who leaped over the bench. (Nevada) pic.twitter.com/rR1szzcGzk
Judge Holthus is a career prosecutor with more than 27 years of courthouse experience, and she was elected to the state court bench in 2018 and again in 2022.
Redden is set to appear in court once again today to face multiple new felony charges of battery and battery against a protected person, referring to the judge and court staff.
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An Ivy leaguer, proud conservative millennial, history lover, writer, and lifelong New Englander, James specializes in the intersection of culture and politics.
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