Nevada
Nevada Latino vote can potentially help swing the 2024 election
An aroma of Mexican pozole wafted through Maria Guadalupe “Lupe” Arreola’s spacious backyard during a warm early October evening, less than a month before Election Day.
As the sun began to set and horchata flowed freely, about two dozen Latino volunteers gathered at Arreola’s central Las Vegas home to promote Democratic candidates in a phone bank.
“For Latino citizens who can vote, your vote is very important,” Arreola told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Spanish. “It’s important that they vote, for whomever they want to, but that they vote.”
“But first, we’re going to eat delicious pozole,” Arreola said about the hominy-and-meat-based stew boiled in watery red salsa.
Democratic and Republican campaigns have dispatched staff to knock on doors and have held events throughout the valley in an effort to attract the coveted Latino vote.
They have hosted events at cafes and at a Lindo Michoacan restaurant, where in September Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown addressed upbeat Republicans at a packed section of the Mexican restaurant.
“Are you guys excited? There’s only 47 days left before Nov. 5,” Brown said that day.
“This is not my campaign for U.S. Senate,” he added. “This is our campaign for U.S. Senate.”
Demographic can prove pivotal
Three in 10 Nevada residents identify as Latino, and the demographic is estimated to account for 20 percent of the state’s total vote in the general election.
In a race of inches in a battleground state, Nevada Latinos have the potential to swing the election.
Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen and U.S. Rep. Dina Titus showed up to Arreola’s phone bank in October.
“The Latino vote is so important for our campaign,” Rosen told the Review-Journal, adding that demographic cares about the same issues as the rest of the electorate.
Rosen, who said she staffs first-generation Americans with immigrant backgrounds, complimented Arreola’s hospitality.
“We come here all the time,” she said. “We’re not just here because it’s an election year.”
Later that week, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump would appear in the Las Vegas Valley events in a push to court the Latino vote.
Harris took part in a Noticias Univision town hall of undecided Latino voters broadcast from Cox Pavilion. Trump headlined “Building America’s Future Hispanic Roundtable” in North Las Vegas.
Both parties took advantage of Hispanic Heritage Month — which conveniently falls during the outset of election seasons — to host themed events geared toward Latinos.
‘Absolute difference’
“We see the critical role that our Latino voters are playing in different elections,” UnidosUS CEO Janet Murguia told the Review-Journal this summer. “But particularly here in Nevada, they could make the absolute difference in the outcome of the presidential election.”
UnidosUS is a Latino-centered civil rights organization that also promotes civil engagement. President Joe Biden was set to address the nonpartisan nonprofit’s Las Vegas convention in July but abruptly canceled because of a COVID diagnosis. Days after, Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris.
U.S. Latinos had a gross domestic product of $3.6 trillion in 2022, according to a 2024 report from Latino Donor Collaborative report sponsored by Wells Fargo and conducted by Arizona State University’s business school.
If that demographic was its own country, the figure would rank it as the fifth largest world economy, the report said.
Trump campaign gaining ground
Experts say they understand that Latinos do not exist as a monolith; polls show that they care about many of the same issues as the rest of the electorate.
The top five issues cited by Latinos surveyed, according to a pre-election poll conducted in August for UnidosUS, were: inflation, jobs, housing, immigration, and crime and gun violence, respectively.
Additional polling from August to October suggested that while the majority of Latino voters continue to lean Democratic, Trump has been cutting into that advantage in 2024.
Harris’ lead of 61.6 percent to Trump’s 35.5 percent in August had dropped to 57.6 percent to Trump’s 41.8 percent in October, according to Emerson College Polling and Nexstar Media, though it was a small sample size with a larger-than-usual margin of error. Rosen held a more comfortable lead over Brown.
Citing exit polling, CNN reported that Biden got 61 percent of the Latino vote share in 2020 compared with Trump’s 35 percent.
An analysis by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas — a nonprofit that specializes in Latin American politics and society — estimated that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took 60 percent of the Latino vote in Nevada compared with Trump’s 29 percent.
The numbers pale in comparison to former President Obama’s share of the vote, who Pew Research Center estimated got 76 percent and 70 percent of the Latino vote in Nevada in both of his campaigns.
Outreach lacking
Despite the efforts shown so far, campaigns are not doing enough to reach out to Latinos, according to UnidosUS. In September, the organization reported that just over half of the Latinos surveyed in Nevada (53 percent) said that they had not been contacted by either party this time around.
“Candidates should be redoubling their efforts to engage this decisive electorate and present concrete solutions to their top concerns — cost of living, wages and housing — to gain their confidence and earn their votes,” wrote Rafael Collazo, UnidosUS director of public affairs.
League of United Latin American Citizens CEO Juan Proaño told the Review-Journal this summer that the outreach won’t improve significantly until campaigns start promoting more Latinos to senior positions.
LULAC describes itself as the oldest and largest Latino membership civil rights organization.
“We don’t want a figurehead,” he said. “We don’t want someone who’s just at the table that doesn’t have the ability to call the shots and spend money.”
Proaño had previously worked for political campaigns.
“I’ve been in those rooms, I’ve seen how those conversations go down, and they generally don’t end well,” he said.
He said campaigns would benefit by being more transparent about their political contributions.
“They should report out Latino contributions and those contributions should go (back) into the community,” Proaño said.
Local efforts
Jaime Florez, the Hispanic communications director for the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign told the Review-Journal that Democrats have a fundraising advantage, but he said it didn’t matter.
“We have the same message, and we have the best messenger, who is President Trump,” he said about the campaign’s efforts to reach all demographics.
Florez said the campaign translates all messaging to Spanish for those who speak it, but he said the message doesn’t change.
Issues like immigration and inflation, Florez said, impact all citizens the same way.
He was one of the speakers at a northwest Las Vegas Trump campaign office where Republican surrogates stumped for the presidential candidate in front of a couple dozen Latinos.
“We don’t want to get into ‘how many offices did you open; how many people did you hire; how much money did you spend,’” Florez said. “It’s not about that, it’s about the message and the message is very clear, we need to go back to the prosperity of the Trump years.”
The Harris campaign said its office in the predominantly Latino east Las Vegas has seen “record levels of enthusiasm and engagement.”
The campaign has used its local offices as “community hubs” to mobilize Latinos, hosting dinners, movie nights and bilingual events related to financial literacy.
“This first-of-its-kind program has brought in thousands of new voters since its launch in March,” the campaign said.
In late September, for example, the Harris campaign hosted a roundtable geared toward male Latino voters at a Peruvian cafe to discuss the economy.
Emilia Pablo, Nevada’s Harris-Walz campaign Latino media press secretary, said that the Biden-Harris administration has helped Latinos and that a Harris presidency would do the same.
“The Latino vote must be earned, and our campaign is putting in the work to reach Latinos in Nevada where they are and drive home the stark choice they face at the ballot box this election,” Pablo said.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
Although Las Vegas has been voted America’s most fun city and is known as the gambling capital of the world due to its sheer number of casinos, Nevada doesn’t actually claim a spot among the five largest casinos in the United States by size. Instead, two are in Connecticut, two are in California, and Oklahoma takes the top spot.
Ranging from 270,000 to more than 600,000 square feet, these sprawling properties may not have the cachet of appearing in multiple Bond films like the Casino de Monte-Carlo, or boast the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool like Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. Nor do they offer safari parks like Sun City Casino Resort in South Africa. Still, you don’t have to leave the U.S. to find expansive casino destinations with plenty to offer. From championship golf courses and Native American cultural institutions to spas with aqua therapy and crystal energy healing, each property on this list offers its own appeal.
Of course, their size alone doesn’t automatically make them must-visit destinations, but it does mean plenty of gaming options, such as slot machines and roulette, as well as a wide variety of restaurants and entertainment to suit many different tastes. To identify America’s largest casinos, we began with data from Casino.org and verified details on each property’s official website. With gaming floors this large, getting your steps in likely won’t be a problem. So, pick your favorite, practice your poker face, and book your trip — and don’t forget your good luck charm!
Oklahoma: WinStar World Casino and Resort
The WinStar World Casino and Resort has certainly put Thackerville, Oklahoma (population 411) on the map. Covering an impressive 616,960 square feet – 400,000 square feet of it just on the gaming floor – WinStar is the world’s largest casino. With more than 55 poker tables and 10,000 electronic games to choose from, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to move around and find your lucky seat. The property has received 2.6 stars on Yelp, based on more than 1,000 reviews. A November 2025 visitor noted its world theme, explaining that “each section of the casino is designed as a different country or state.”
The resort has more than 20 restaurants and bars, and golfers will want to schedule a tee time at one of two 18-hole courses and perhaps get some tips on improving their game at the Golf Academy. When it’s time to relax, the pools and the spa beckon. Find your perfect spot at the three-tier Cascades pool or settle into a private cabana at the Terrace Pool. The spa offers standard massages, facials, and hair and nail services as well as hydrotherapy and aquathermal bathing.
WinStar is an hour from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas and about 2 hours from Oklahoma City. There are 1,700 rooms in the hotel on site, 100 rooms in the nearby inn accessible by shuttle, and 155 RV sites at the Fun Town RV Park at WinStar.
Connecticut: Mohegan Sun
Despite being the third-smallest U.S. state, Connecticut is surprisingly home to two of the country’s largest casinos. America’s second-largest casino is Mohegan Sun, known for its dining and concert venue. It has more than 350,000 square feet of gaming space, 130,000 square feet of retail, and 375,000 square feet of meeting space. With two casinos, two hotel towers, two spas, two indoor pools, three live performance venues, and 45 restaurants and bars, it’s no wonder that more than 25,000 people walk through its doors every day. It’s also home to the Connecticut Sun, a WNBA franchise.
Because many casinos discourage or ban children, it’s noteworthy that Mohegan Sun not only has facilities and entertainment for them but also offers hourly childcare. Drop children ages two-and-a-half up to 12 years old at Kids Quest to play games, watch a movie, and sing karaoke under staff supervision while parents enjoy the adult casino amenities. There’s also a Cyber Quest arcade for older children.
Mohegan Sun’s architecture is also a standout feature. “All the touches of decor honoring Native history are incredible,” a guest wrote in a Google review, referencing murals and animatronic wolves that howl on the hour. Visitors should look out for design enhancements, such as a 55-foot indoor waterfall and a large indoor planetarium dome with varying celestial projections. Mohegan Sun receives 4.5 stars on Google from more than 44,000 reviews. It’s located in Uncasville, one hour from Bradley International Airport in Hartford, and about 2 hours from Boston.
Connecticut: Foxwoods
Foxwoods Resort Casino is about 15 minutes from Mohegan Sun, making it possible — though a bit ambitious — to visit both in a single day. With 340,000 square feet of gaming space, Foxwoods offers about 3,400 slot machines, 54 poker tables, and 249 table games across five casino areas. It also includes four hotels, two spas, two golf courses, six nightclubs, as well as an escape room, a bowling alley, axe-throwing, and pottery workshops – so no one can claim boredom.
Located in the Native American history-rich town of Mashantucket, Foxwoods is also home to the 308,000-square-foot Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, which explores the history of the Mashantucket Tribal Nation. The resort earns 4.3 stars on Google, based on more than 24,000 reviews. One guest in December 2025 wrote: “There is so much to see and do around every corner … Amazing restaurants for every taste and budget.”
Well placed in New England, Foxwoods is one hour from Bradley International Airport in Hartford, 1.5 hours from Boston, and only 20 minutes from the laid-back town of Mystic, one of the best small towns in the U.S. for a fall escape.
California: Yaamava’ Resort & Casino
Yaamava’ Resort & Casino, located in Highland, California, ranks fourth among the largest casinos in America with 7,500 slot machines and 150 table games covering 290,000 square feet of gaming space. It sits on the reservation of the Yuhaaviatam clan San Manuel Nation and is roughly an hour from Palm Springs International Airport and 2 hours from LAX.
In addition to having AAA Five-Diamond status, Yaamava’ has also been voted the best casino outside of Las Vegas. Guests can catch major headliners, take a dip in the third-floor Helix Pool, or unwind at Serrano Spa, which offers services like sound-therapy massages and gold-infused facials. Dining options include Pines Steakhouse, a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence recipient, and a USA Today Readers’ Choice winner for casino dining.
Despite its scale, the on-site hotel has only 432 rooms. The casino holds a 2.9-star rating on Tripadvisor from 603 reviews, with crowding frequently cited as a drawback. “Be prepared to wait for machines during peak hours,” a former guest noted in a January 2026 review. Another had a hard time getting in and out: “We were stuck in standstill traffic trying to enter the parking structure and stuck over one hour in parking structure trying to leave,” they wrote.
California: Thunder Valley Casino
Thunder Valley Casino Resort rounds out the top five largest casinos in America, with 270,000 square feet of gaming space. Located in Lincoln, Northern California, the resort has earned a AAA Four-Diamond designation annually since 2011. The property features 3,500 slot and video machines, 90 table games, a 4,500-seat entertainment venue, a seasonal outdoor pool with cabanas, and a 24-hour fitness center.
Take your pick of 20 restaurants and bars on-site, including the cleverly named High Steaks Steakhouse and Dos Coyotes Border Café for Mexican fare. If you don’t want to spend the time or money at a sit-down restaurant, grab a bite at fast-dining options on the property like Fatburger and Panda Express. The spa offers standard treatments like massages and facials alongside amenities such as a eucalyptus steam room, sauna, meditation room, and halotherapy. Operated by the United Auburn Indian Community, the resort includes a 408-room hotel.
Thunder Valley Casino Resort has a 4.5-star rating from 1,752 Tripadvisor reviews. “The new rooms are beautiful and … Love the latest expansions,” a guest wrote in January 2026. The property is about 30 minutes from Sacramento International Airport, 2 hours from Reno, Nevada, and a little over 2 hours from San Francisco.
Methodology
To come up with the list of the largest casinos in America, we referenced casino square footage from the industry-leading independent gaming review and advice platform, Casino.org. We then verified the square footage for each of the five properties and incorporated information from their websites and external sources, such as Tripadvisor, Google Reviews, and Just Luxe.
Nevada
Watch Nevada high school state wrestling championships final day: Live stream, schedule, tickets
The Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association (NIAA) high school state wrestling championships wrap up Saturday in Winnemucca.
Champions will be crowned in Class 2A, 3A, 5A and girls wrestling.
All matches will stream live on the NFHS Network on eight mats. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. PST on Saturday.
The event will be held at the Winnemucca Events Center. Tickets are $13 for adults and $6 for students.
Here’s a look at the schedule and live stream information. All times PST.
Saturday, Feb. 14
9 a.m.: Consolation semifinals in all classes
1:30 p.m.: Championship finals
What is the NFHS Network?
The NFHS Network covers 27 different regular-season and postseason sports nationwide. NFHS Network costs $13.99 per month or $79.99 per year.
Coronado boys bowling coach Nicholas Elefantis wasn’t convinced he had a championship-caliber team through the first half of the regular season.
He gained hope midway through the year and became a full believer Friday.
Senior Michael Sims took down six pins in the final frame of the day’s last game and gave the sixth-seeded Cougars a 7-2 (2,382-2,376) victory over No. 3 Shadow Ridge in the 5A state bowling finals at the Orleans Bowling Center.
Following up on last year’s girls title, it was the second consecutive year for Coronado to bring home a crown.
“We lost some seniors after last year,” Elefantis said. “So I actually had doubts until we came back after winter break. We started stringing wins together and bowling together as a team.
“This group dug down deep and found something inside themselves.”
And that success involved knocking off powerhouses Palo Verde and Foothill in the tournament’s first two rounds.
“That’s a tall ask,” Elfantis said.
Sims, captain of the team that included Blake Miller, Yoo Nho Choi and Leo Cappiello, needed only to take down one pin in the 10th after the Mustangs left a pin standing in their half of the frame.
Determined not to put one in the gutter, he took down more than enough pins to seal it.
“Today I just fell back on all the work I had put in,” Sims said. “I knew I could do it no matter what.”
Elefantis said his team got some breaks that contributed to the victory.
“We had a little bit of extra luck today,” he said. “When it comes down to six pins, that’s anybody’s match.”
In 4A competition, Zach Miller, Harry Leppelmeier, Nolan Leppelmeier, Ashton Osbahr and Khalil Kirby teamed to give No. 1L Rancho the state crown with a 9-0 (2,503-2,266) victory over No. 2M Bishop Gorman.
Girls bowling
In the girls 5A title match, top-seeded Shadow Ridge dominated its way to a 9-0 (2,097-1852) victory over No. 3 Desert Oasis.
Jordynn Hernandez, Katrell Cloud-Mixon, Jaiyla Higgins and Tia Breeden took control from the start, quelling their coach’s fears of a fourth consecutive disappointing postseason.
“We’ve been really close the last three years,” Mustangs coach Jeremiah Baron said. “We were up in the finals by 84 pins three years ago, but let it slip sway.”
This time, the team was prepared.
“We talked a lot about how this is a team, and every frame is an opportunity to redeem yourself,” the coach said. “And to know if they miss a shot, just to flush it and move on.”
Baron credited Hernandez for recovering from a rough first round to lead the way Friday.
“She just thought she had to do it all,” Baron said. “We talked, and we got her to relax and just bowl. Today she kicked butt.”
In the 4A championship match, No. 1D Mojave claimed to the title by cruising past No. 2D The Meadows 9-0 (1,837-1,704).
Lindsay Guarano, Mariah McGuigan, Jesenya McGuigan, Sharon Serrano and Chaselynn Carruitero dominated the match from beginning to end for the Rattlers.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.
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