LAS VEGAS — Nevada’s Democrats are feeling popular.
“There’s been so many people that come through here, and they have been since the end of the last election,” said Daniele Monroe-Moreno, the chair of Nevada’s Democratic Party who is also running for mayor of Las Vegas. “We’re just a pretty popular place.”
At least to her, the national Democrats flying into her state haven’t let on about their 2028 ambitions quite yet.
“I’m like, ‘So tell me. You can just tell me. I won’t tell anyone. Are you going to run for president?’” she told The Washington Sun in a phone interview. “And no one’s announcing publicly or privately yet, but what they are saying is that they know how important this 2026 election is leading into 2028.”
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Nevada will be the second state to vote for a Democratic presidential nominee in 2028, making it a magnet now for Democrats exploring a White House bid. They’ve hit the trail with candidates up and down the state’s 2026 ballot, including several appearances with Aaron Ford, the Nevada attorney general who is running for governor against incumbent Joe Lombardo.
In the coming weeks, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Rahm Emanuel, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and California Rep. Ro Khanna are all expected to swing through the state. Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin all traveled to Nevada last week. Slotkin’s schedule included events with the Democratic Party and labor leaders. Warnock and Buttigieg joined Ford for events in Las Vegas. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has paid Ford a visit, and Kamala Harris hosted a fundraiser for him in California.
Potential 2028 candidates have collectively donated more than $1 million to boost Ford and other Nevada Democrats, Politico reported.
Other contenders have campaigned alongside candidates further down the ballot, including Monroe-Moreno. Emanuel, Kelly and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have all appeared with her since last year, according to a 2028 candidate tracker published by The Nevada Independent.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada’s senior Democratic senator and chair of the ModSquad PAC, which supports moderate Democrats, has organized trips for Senate colleagues and other contenders. She collaborated with the state party and other organizations to invite Kelly, Slotkin, Warnock, Pritzker, Emanuel and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego to Nevada in the past year, a spokesperson said. She also spoke with Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania about how Democrats can appeal to working-class voters.
“Nevada is a microcosm of our country. I want candidates in Nevada early and often because I know that if you can win in Nevada, you can win anywhere,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.
The would-be candidates are also meeting with Nevada’s highly influential unions. The Service Employees International Union Local 1107 hosted Warnock for a roundtable discussion last week, and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker rallied on Monday with members of the Culinary Union.
Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said national Democrats have to regain the trust of working-class voters, adding that the Democratic Party needs to outline what it will do on “Day 1” if it takes back the House or Senate.
“If you can win in Nevada as a Democrat, you can win in the rest of the country,” Pappageorge said. “Nevada Democrats have to be pragmatic. They have to pay attention to working-class, kitchen-table issues. You’re just not going to win in Nevada without that.”
Nevada’s congressional candidates are also well aware that Democrats with presidential ambitions can learn from their competitive races.
“You know what is on the ballot right now is not just about 2026,” Rep. Susie Lee, who represents Nevada’s competitive 3rd Congressional District, said at a faith rally last week. “It is the road to 2028.”
She glanced down the stage at the one politician not from Nevada.
“It’s no surprise that the likes of Sen. Warnock are in town.”
Nevada moved up in the nominating calendar after making the case that it reflects much of the country: working class, ethnically diverse and mostly unaffiliated with either party.
It’s that diversity in a battleground state that locals argue make it worth the time of ambitious politicians, and time better spent than in safely blue areas.
“I would like to see more of the presidential candidates who come to town spend more time in my district, really understanding a lot of these people who don’t really associate with one party or the other,” Lee said in an interview with The Sun.
Rep. Steven Horsford, who is running for reelection in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, also emphasized the 2028 stakes at play in the midterms at the same faith event. He reminded the crowd that the state is not only second in the nation on the Democratic primary calendar, but it is also the first battleground and first Western state that will have a say in the presidential contest.
“The message that I’m sending to anyone and everyone is: If you want to win in 2028, then you got to show up in 2026 to help us carry this state, because the election is close,” he said.
The state’s diverse industries are also attracting presidential hopefuls to the state, said Kevin Carey, a land use analyst for Clark County and the co-chair of the political organizing committee at SEIU Local 1107.
“There’s everything from your casino to mining to outdoor activities,” he said.
One piece of advice he has for them? “They have to learn how to pronounce the state,” he said.
“Nuh-VAD-uh.”
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