By Haajrah Gilani (contact)

Saturday, July 6, 2024 | 2 a.m.

As conversations continue across the country about President Joe Biden’s age and capabilities, Nevada Democrats in the congressional delegation remain focused on keeping Republican Donald Trump out of office. 

Public concern about Biden’s age and capabilities has continued since he announced his run for presidency in 2019. Now, more party members — including incumbents and major donors — have expressed worries after his debate with the former president last week. 

In the aftermath of the debate, Biden attributed his performance to a bad episode, not indicative of any serious condition. The president told a crowd at Friday’s campaign event in Wisconsin that he has no intentions to halt his campaign and that he is staying in the race.

Nevada Democrats are not joining the calls for Biden to drop out. Some officials emphasized the importance of keeping Biden in office with reproductive rights at stake. 

Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Roe v. Wade precedent in 2022, Las Vegas clinics have seen a 40% increase in abortion care patients. Many of those seeking care are from nearby Republican-led states that have since enacted heavily restrictive legislation on abortion, like Texas, Utah and Arizona.

Wade Vandervort

Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen speaks during a campaign event in Las Vegas Friday, Jun 28, 2024.

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While Sen. Jacky Rosen is focused on her own reelection, she believes the path forward is apparent.

“There is a clear choice for voters this November between an administration focused on lowering costs, growing the middle class, and restoring reproductive freedom and Trump’s MAGA agenda that would ban abortion and devastate hardworking Nevada families,” said the Rosen campaign in a statement.

Wade Vandervort

Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto speaks during a campaign event in Las Vegas Friday, Jun 28, 2024.

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Nevada’s other U.S. senator, Catherine Cortez Masto, shared her colleague’s sentiments on the importance of retaining a Biden administration. 

“From reproductive freedom to the future of our democracy, Nevadans understand the stakes of this election,” said Cortez Masto spokeswoman Lauren Wodarski in a statement.

Brian Ramos

Congresswoman Dina Titus speaks about reproductive rights on the second anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned, in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday, June 24, 2024.

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Rep. Dina Titus acknowledged in a statement that Biden’s performance in last week’s debate “was not his best” and that he could have come across stronger. She went on to explain why his presidency would still be important for her constituents. 

“Here in Nevada, we are focused on protecting women’s reproductive freedoms and the Biden administration’s work to help us cope with the pandemic and the resulting high unemployment,” the statement said. 

Steve Marcus

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Congresswoman Susie Lee, D-Nev., speaks during a Month of Action event with President Joe Biden at the Stupak Community Center Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Congresswoman Dina Titus, D-Nev., listens at left.

Rep. Susie Lee’s team pointed to comments the congresswoman made to The Wall Street Journal last week, where she said she didn’t know if another party member had a better chance at beating Trump but that the Democrats need to talk about moving forward after the “awful” debate. 

Rep. Steven Horsford did not respond for comment. 

The day after the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris attended a campaign event in Las Vegas and defended Biden’s potential for a second term.

“For all the punditry last night, our president made clear there is a contrast between someone who lies and someone who leads,” Harris said at the event.

Harris will return to Las Vegas on Tuesday to speak at a campaign event targeting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters.

LAS VEGAS — Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign announced Friday it had submitted a “second round” of 30,000 signatures in a bid to get on the Nevada ballot ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

The latest attempt followed the invalidation of Kennedy’s first round of petitions because they lacked the name of his running mate, Nicole Shanahan.

RFK Jr.’s campaign argued Nevada’s rules do not require a running mate to be named on ballot petitions, and accused state Secretary of State Francisco V. Aguilar of acting with “either rank incompetence or partisan political gamesmanship” in denying the earlier attempt.

A lawsuit filed by the campaign against Aguilar, an elected Democrat, is pending in federal court.

“The voters of Nevada have, for a second time, demonstrated their enthusiasm and determination to place Kennedy on Nevada’s general election ballot,” campaign attorney Paul Rossi said in a statement.

An Aguilar spokesperson said voter registrars in each of the state’s 22 counties have four business days to submit a “raw count” of the number of signatures collected.

If the total number is greater than the required 10,095 signatures for an independent to reach the ballot, each county will be told how many signatures have to be verified for the petitions to be accepted — a process that must be completed within nine business days.

“Gathering signatures for a second time gave us a unique perspective,” Kennedy campaign Nevada state director Randell Hynes said. “We learned many more Nevadans knew Kennedy was running. We also had hundreds of thousands of face-to-face conversations we would not have had otherwise.”

Friday’s filing comes two weeks after a pair of Nevada voters, one of whom is a vice chair of the state Democratic Party, sued Aguilar claiming Kennedy is not a true “independent” candidate because he has accepted nominations from minor parties in order to appear on the ballot in other states.

That case is ongoing.

The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Kennedy receiving 7.8% of the vote in the Silver State, well behind Donald Trump (43.8%) and President Biden (38.8%).