Mark RobisonReno Gazette Journal
Sen. Jacky Rosen is Nevada’s most formidable candidate as she seeks to be re-elected and help Democrats nationally maintain control of the U.S. Senate.
In just the first quarter of 2024, the Democratic senator from Henderson raised $5 million and announced $14 million for TV ads in the Reno and Las Vegas markets through the general election.
Her election team described it as the largest single ad reservation in history for a Nevada U.S. Senate race.
Rosen’s campaign sports about $13 million in cash on hand compared to about $5 million for all of her Republican and Democratic opponents combined.
She may need every penny.
Republicans often demonstrate strength at the statewide level, despite Nevadans often going Democratic at the presidential level. The signs show the Senate race could be another close one.
Adam Laxalt lost a nail-biter by only about 8,000 votes to Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, and Joe Lombardo was the only Republican to beat a Democratic governor nationwide in that election cycle.
The Cook Political Report has moved its prediction for Nevada’s Senate race from leaning Democratic to being a toss-up.
And it’s possible President Joe Biden will be a drag for other Democratic candidates lower on the ballot. A recent New York Times poll showed former President Donald Trump dominating Biden in Nevada by 13 percentage points.
The results of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate may be considered a foregone conclusion – Rosen declined to participate in this article – but she does face opposition from two very different candidates who are more than 50 years apart in age.
One – Mike Schaefer – doesn’t even live in Nevada. In fact, he’s currently elected to statewide office in California. He told the Reno Gazette Journal he won a lawsuit 25 years ago in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals saying that a Senate candidate needs to be a resident of their state only when the election is decided.
If it looks like he’s going to win the general election, Schaefer said, he’ll step down from his current post and move to the Silver State.
The primary is Tuesday, June 11. Early voting runs May 25-June 7.
Who is Mike Schaefer running in Nevada’s U.S. Senate Democratic primary?
- Age: 86
- Education: Juris doctor
- Occupation: Elected taxpayer advocate in California
- Political experience: San Diego city councilman, California taxpayer advocate since 2019
- Family: Adult sons
- Contributions: None
Who is Troy Walker running in Nevada’s U.S. Senate Democratic primary?
- Age: 33
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, master’s in business administration
- Occupation: Fatherhood program manager at the WestCare Nevada substance treatment organization, part-time at a company he started to help nonprofits apply for grants
- Political experience: First-time candidate
- Family: Single
- Contributions from Jan. 1, 2023 through March 31, 2024: $705 (cash on hand: -$106)
Who do you think should be the next president and why?
• Mike Schaefer: We have to vote for reelection of President Biden. Mr. Trump won an election eight years ago, but eight years ago, Mr. Trump was just a controversial person. He was not tarnished material. He was just a new voice with views some people liked and some didn't. But in the last eight years, he's dishonored himself. He's been indicted dozens of times. He's not the same Donald Trump we had in 2016.
I can’t complain about Mr. Biden's health. I'm 86 and he's only 82. He's a younger candidate. And a lot of us seniors have a lot of wisdom. We’re seasoned and we're tough. I'm one of those people and so is Mr. Biden, and I supporting him fully.
• Troy Walker: I support Biden because I feel like there's still work to be done on his Democratic platform. However, I do feel that we need some fresh faces and new energy in the political space to help push progressive policies and legislation.
What specific reforms, if any, would you make to Medicare?
• Schaefer: When I’ve gone to see a doctor at a neighborhood hospital in Los Angeles, I’ve found they don't ask you about your money or who you are. They just get you in to see a professional and they get you out of there and there's no such thing as a bill.
I think the system is working well. From what I’ve seen of it, for both the rich and the poor, I think it's working fine. I'm not an expert, though. When I'm elected to the U.S. Senate, I will mainly be there to see that the taxpayers are getting a fair shake and that the public who need medical attention are not going to be standing in any lines.
• Walker: I propose to really take a look at the entire system and do some auditing, not to make cuts to Medicare but to see how we can improve and enhance the services.
My mom is 63 years old and makes about 700 some odd dollars a month that she has to live off of. When she is old enough to receive Medicare benefits, it will cost too much money per month for her to take advantage of those programs and resources.
So I really want to look at the cost versus the benefit because our senior citizens and disabled individuals who receive Medicare benefits shouldn't have to pay astronomical amounts of money each month in order to receive benefits.
If you could make only one change to current U.S. border policy, what would it be?
• Schaefer: I have been concerned about the abuse of taxpayers.
In San Diego, all my life, it seems that women come over from Mexico to Chula Vista and San Ysidro and have their children in a hospital and then the children are automatically U.S. citizens because they're born in San Diego County. The mother and father are now parents of a U.S. citizen, and they qualify for welfare.
The taxpayers of California and the taxpayers of Nevada can't afford to be supporting citizens of Mexico financially.
I do want to be welcoming to people who come here to the United States – there’s a lot of opportunity here – but I want to be protective of taxpayers.
• Walker: The first thing I would do is secure our borders because right now, with our borders being unsecured, that is a national security issue.
After securing our borders, I would love to revamp the U.S. path to citizenship. I would meet with different lawmakers to see how we can make changes that will not only benefit the people who are looking to obtain citizenship but also our country as far prioritizing individuals who have advanced or other skills that we need and may have a shortage of.
Candidate responses were edited for length and clarity from phone interviews.
Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.
