Obama heading to Nevada as Senate race tightens

(NewsNation) — Nevada Democrats are calling in for reinforcements ahead of November’s pivotal midterm elections.

Nevada’s Senate race between Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican Adam Laxalt is tightening, and some new polls show Laxalt holding a narrow lead in a race that could tip the control of Senate.

Democratic mainstays former President Barack Obama and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are headed to Nevada to throw their weight behind the incumbent Cortez Masto.

Polling by Decision Desk HQ considers the race to be a toss-up, with polling averages giving Laxalt a 2.5-point advantage. FiveThirtyEight polling gives Laxalt just a 0.2-point lead over Cortez Matso.

Democrats do not appear to be taking those polling numbers lightly. Obama will speak at an event in Nevada on Nov. 1 that both Cortez Masto and incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak are expected to attend.

FILE – Republican Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt speaks during a campaign event at Stoney’s Rockin’ Country in Las Vegas, June 10, 2022. Former President Donald Trump has backed former state Attorney General Laxalt for U.S. Senate. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP, File)

Obama released a campaign ad for Sisolak, who is facing a tight election battle of his own against Republican Joe Lombardo.

Republicans too, recognize the weight of Nevada as a swing state in November’s midterms. Earlier this year, former President Donald Trump campaigned in Nevada, giving the strength of his endorsement to both Laxalt and Lombardo.

“You’re going to send Joe Lombardo to the governor’s mansion and you’re going to send Adam Laxalt to the U.S. Senate and you’re going to elect an incredible slate of true America First Republicans up and down the ballot,” Trump said.

Laxalt has stuck to the Republican midterm playbook in his campaign thus far, consistently tying Cortez Masto to President Joe Biden and the record-high inflation the country has seen during his administration.

“They wrecked our economy,” a Laxalt campaign ad says of Biden and Cortez Masto.

But likewise, Cortez Masto has stuck to the Democrats’ campaign theme of tying their midterm opponents to the Supreme Court decision to end federal protections for abortion.

“Adam Laxalt called Roe v. Wade a joke and it made me feel horrible, that we are going backwards in time. My daughters deserve better than this,” a Cortez Masto campaign ad said.

Decision Desk HQ forecasts show Nevada and Pennsylvania as the only two toss up states for Senate elections in November’s midterms. North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia and Arizona are also states where tight races are playing out in an election season that could break Democratic control of the Senate.