Nevada is a crucial midterm election battleground state where the GOP has high hopes of flipping the state from blue to red.
The polls are showing a tightening in the races for Senate and Governor and the Democrats have decided to call in former President Obama to campaign for Nevada Democratic candidates Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Gov. Steve Sisolak.
Signs of a possible red wave in the state may have prompted Obama’s visit to the state as both incumbents are in competitive races. Obama will campaign for the two pushing early voting to bolster voter turnout.
Former President Obama has been called in to make many other stops in competitive races such as Atlanta, GA , and in Detroit Mich,. and Milwaukee in the end of October. More notably is the absence of President Biden and Vice President Harris in these states.
President Biden has been asked to some campaigning in Pennsylvania and Oregon but Obama has been the Democrats most popular surrogate and is much preferred in tight election races. Many of the states Obama will visit have Biden approval ratings underwater suggesting he is to blame for rising gas prices, inflation and general economic turmoil.
For Republicans, Nevada is seen as a good chance to pickup a seat in the Senate. According to a USA Today-Suffolk University poll, the incumbent Cortez Masto has only a slight lead of 46% to the Rupublican challenger Adam Laxalt with a close 44%. Because the poll has a margin of error of 4%, the race has become a toss up and will come down to voter turnout.
In the race for Governor, the same poll shows Trump-endorsed Republican Joe Lombardo receiving 43% to the Democrat Governor Sisolak’s 44% support, an extremely tight race falling within the poll’s margin of error.