LAS VEGAS — Democrats just suffered a landslide presidential defeat in Nevada for the first time in 20 years, fueled by a swing toward Republicans among working-class voters.

The result prompted a reckoning of how they failed. In interviews, top Democrats and their allies cited “messaging” issues, the late move to nominate Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s unique ability to capitalize on the pain of rising post-pandemic costs, which hit hard for many voters.

Still, they remain optimistic about their prospects in Nevada, noting that the red tide ended with Trump and failed to translate to other Republicans in the state. The strange result helps them devise a strategy to paint Nevada blue again in 2028.

“I certainly think he’s, I will say, very talented at targeting certain groups in society and telling them what they want to know,” said Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., who said she won a district who supported Trump. “And I think the proof will be in the pudding — if he can deliver on those promises.”

If Republicans fail to improve their lives, Lee said, “it will come back to haunt them in two years and then again in four years.”

While the Democratic presidential candidate lost, Sen. Jacky Rosen he won re-electionand Democrats in all three closely divided districts in the Las Vegas area won. Democrats also held on in the state Legislature, falling just short of supermajorities.

Ticket-splitting and partial no-votes in Nevada’s “none of the above” voting option had an impact.

Harris lost Nevada, even though he won by about 4,000 more votes than Rosen. The key difference? Many Trump supporters refused to check the box for Rosen’s opponent, Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown. Brown won by nearly 75,000 fewer votes than Trump.

A message from the working class

“Trump is a phenomenon. He is a brand. And he’s been doing it for 30 years with ‘The Apprentice,’ appearing on the WWF and so on,” said Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the influential Culinary Union in Las Vegas. “When you lose the top of the ticket, normally you have damage. It didn’t happen.”

With its large population of Latinos and non-college voters, Nevada was ground zero for the two demographics that helped Trump sweeps all seven battleground states.

Conformable NBC News Nevada exit pollsTrump lost Latinos by 26 percentage points in 2020, but won them by 2 points this year. Among Nevada voters without a college degree, Trump widened his lead from 2 points in 2020 to 10 points this year.

Pappageorge, whose union represents workers who work in Sin City’s glamorous hotels and casinos, said Democrats were hurt by “messaging issues” that left Trump appealing to working-class voters, running against “elitism”.

“Democrats need to get back to the basics of fighting for working class issues and values,” he said, including “working class white, black and Latino workers,” both men and women. “Working class voters don’t pay attention to politics. They don’t watch CNN and Fox or all that. They are worried about taking care of their families,” he said.

Even though Trump carried Nevadans by 2 points, they voted for Rosen by 7 points, according to NBC News exit polls.

Republican hopes for the future

Republicans say Nevada’s vote for Trump marks the beginning of a shift toward their party that the GOP can build on.

“It’s a very big deal. We’ve seen Republicans have success at the state level since 2004, but the presidential one had eluded us,” said Jeremy Hughes, a GOP strategist who has worked on Nevada races. “When you look at 2020, 2022 and 2024, you see a trend that anyone would be foolish to ignore.”

Asked about the GOP’s failure to convert the ballot, Hughes said, “It’s still a work in progress. Beating the incumbents is hard. But success will build on success if we continue to execute in 2026 and beyond.”

He added that Republicans can begin to prove Democrats wrong by re-electing GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo in 2026.

Other Republicans said resources were an issue in the vote.

“Brown was very much spent. He closed the gap, but the cavalry probably arrived a week too late,” said a Republican national strategist who works on Senate races, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about his party.

The strategist said the House GOP apparatus “didn’t spend a dime” in Nevada this year, but added, “Republicans should be optimistic about Nevada going forward. Voter registration trends tell the story.”

The Democrats’ Roadmap

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who defied headwinds to win in 2022, said Democrats must deal with the growing number of unaligned voters.

“We now have more nonpartisans or independents in the state of Nevada than we’ve had before, over a third of them. And so we need to know who they are,” she said. “You have to focus your message on those voters at the end of the day and talk about the issues they care about. That’s why Jacky won.”

“Racing in Nevada is always competitive and close. That won’t change. We’ve always had close presidential races,” Cortez Masto said. “But at the end of the day, do I trust the Democratic ground game and infrastructure and knocking on doors and talking to our constituents? I trust that. And that’s part of the reason we’re so successful.”

Rosen said he won because he delivered results for tourism, wildfire mitigation, infrastructure, a new Veterans Affairs hospital in Reno and solar, wind and geothermal jobs.

Harris, she said, was blocked by bad luck.

“There are a lot of bigger questions, of course. I will say this as a woman: Are people ready for a woman president?” Rosen said. “This was a unique election cycle because of the way President Biden took a step back 100 days before the election.”

Josh Marcus-Blank, a Democratic operative who worked for Cortez Masto in 2022 and on Harris’ 2024 campaign, said his party maintains “the road map to win in Nevada” with a diverse coalition of voters and an agenda focused on the economy, housing and the cost of living.

“At the same time, it’s a state where voters have consistently supported reproductive freedom, and whether or not it’s on the ballot, abortion rights it will continue to be an important part of democratic campaigns in the future,” he said.

Pappageorge praised Harris for leading a strong campaign against long odds. He said that while the record of the Biden-Harris policy on blue-collar workers is strong, many do not perceive it.

“Joe Biden was the most pro-union, pro-worker candidate and president we’ve ever had in our lifetime,” he said. “But overall, the Democratic Party has missed the mark and will have to reevaluate that commitment to working-class voters.”