LAS VEGAS — Sin City Republicans felt a rare emotion this week as President Biden rambled on during a shambolic 90-minute debate performance — optimism that Nevada will pick former President Donald Trump come November.
It’s been 20 years since a Republican won the Silver State’s electoral votes. In 2004, President George W. Bush claimed the state’s five electors, now standing at six. Trump lost Nevada to Hillary Clinton eight years ago and to Biden in 2020, as the state became more and more blue.
Gathering for a state GOP watch party at the Italian American Club, one of the city’s oldest eateries, the ex-prez’s supporters were at first hopeful but guarded, a mood that was not helped by initial glitches in getting the video and audio of the CNN-hosted debate working properly.
GOP crowd gathers at the Italian American Club, one of Las Vegas’s oldest restaurants, to watch the June 27 debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump. Mark A. Kellner
But as the match wore on, Biden’s clear issues answering questions by turns shocked and saddened the crowd.
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“I could not understand even two sentences [of] what he was trying to say,” noted Cristiane Mersch, a Summerlin resident and development manager for a crisis pregnancy center. “It worries me. I think he needs a medical, mental exam because he’s not capable to be a president right now.”
Joe Burdzinski, a Las Vegas resident, said “the look at times” on the president’s face was concerning.
“He had a blank expression on his face, his eyeballs would be bulging sometimes,” he said. “His words, especially in his closing statement, he mumbled in his last two minutes.”
Burdzinski said Biden’s comment about more “fentanyl machines” being needed to combat the influx of the deadly synthetic opioid bewildered him.
“During the debate, when he was talking about machines, I couldn’t figure out what kind of machines he was talking about as related to drugs. I don’t know where that fit in or how that worked,” the local said.
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Burdzinski, who’s been involved with GOP efforts for 49 years, said he was “feeling the same type of momentum, if you will, that Ronald Reagan experienced in 1980 against Jimmy Carter.”
He added, “I think the economy is a key issue in this election. And under Donald Trump, the economy was doing better gas prices, lower food cost and so on were lower and that will make a big difference here with Democrats and independents.”
Mersch, who heads the local Moms for Liberty chapter and spoke at the June 9 outdoor Trump campaign rally, said the ex-prez’s promise to end taxing of tips offers “a great potential of Trump winning here.”
She said, “I see a lot of people, especially in the culinary industry,” moving toward the presumptive GOP nominee over tax-free tipping.
“Those Latinos, the hard-working families, are being affected by Biden’s policies,” she said.
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Political consultant Zachary Hayes said he believes Trump “will probably take the state,” having “come close” in 2020, when he lost to Biden by 33,606 votes.
“I think Biden’s lost too much ground in the state, and the state is getting more favorable to the GOP over time, because it’s more blue collar and working class,” Hayes said. “And the demographic, the changes in how the electorate is voting based on class lines favors the GOP.”
Linda Cassaro, a Buffalo, New York, native who’s lived in Las Vegas for 40 years, believes Biden’s debate disaster should be a wake-up call for Nevada’s Democrats.
“I’m not sure who they would put in his place, but they should be worried.”
She thinks Trump will “definitely” win the state and is “gonna do good things for the country like he did the first time he was elected.”
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – Country music artist Caleb Montgomery will be performing at the State Fair of Nevada.
Montogomery will be headlining the Opening Night Concert on June 11 at the Nevada State Fairgrounds in Reno.
“We are excited to welcome families and communities from across Nevada back to the official State Fair of Nevada,” said Nevada Department of Agriculture Director J.J. Goicoechea. “After 16 years, a Nevada tradition is finally returning, something many families have waited years to experience again.”
The fair will run from June 11 to June 13, and opening day tickets will be $15 for adults and $12 for kids aged 12 and younger.
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Other featured programming includes:
Nevada Junior Livestock Show and Sale
University of Nevada, Reno Extension’s 4-H State Expo
NEVADA CITY, Calif. June 2, 2026 – Polls closed at 8:00 pm today. We will post local election results here as soon as they are released.
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June 2, 2026 at 11:54 PM Third and final update, the next results update will be on Friday.
June 2, 2026 at 10:10 PM Second update being published now. The voter counts on the Cumulative Reports are based on the 15 Day Report of Registration and may differ from the Ballot Statistics count.
June 2, 2026 at 8:15 PM First updates
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Federal contests – Nevada County results
CA Secretary of State · June 2, 2026 Primary · Unofficial
U.S. House, District 3
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CA Secretary of State · June 2, 2026 Primary · Unofficial
Insurance Commissioner
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CA Secretary of State · June 2, 2026 Primary · Unofficial
Attorney General
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A Carson City judge has granted the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the operation of a third prediction market in the state.
First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Woodbury on Friday granted the Control Board’s motion and state officials believe a formal written order is forthcoming.
“We are very pleased with Judge Woodbury’s ruling and will continue to vigorously enforce Nevada law to safeguard gaming in our state,” Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said in a release issued by the board Monday.
The injunction blocks QCX LLC, doing business as New York cryptocurrency-based Polymarket US, from providing its services in Nevada.
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The Control Board has had similar successes with preliminary injunctions against New York-based KalshiEx LLC, doing business as Kalshi, and internet-centered Coinbase.
The board has taken decisive action in recent months to halt the operations of prediction markets in the state and has successfully restricted the operation of all unlicensed prediction markets that had been known to be operating in the state.
The board started its efforts in March 2025 against prediction markets, which are not licensed by the state but have written event contracts on sports and election outcomes and entertainment propositions.
Regulators consider the offering of sports-event contracts, along with certain other event contracts, to constitute wagering activity under Nevada law. They’ve said that they could operate in the state if were licensed, a process that often takes at least a year to complete.
Prediction markets believe they are authorized to conduct business in Nevada and every other U.S. state because they are regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, currently chaired by Michael Selig.
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Because of its assertion that it has exclusive jurisdiction, it also has claimed that its oversight outweighs state gaming laws, which has resulted in pushback and lawsuits from a number of states that regulate casino gambling and sports betting.
Several states have pending litigation in place against prediction markets, but Nevada has seemingly found the silver bullet by taking their cases to state courts instead of federal courts.
Nevada’s public policy, as expressed by the Legislature, is that the gaming industry is vitally important to the economy of the state and the general welfare of the inhabitants and therefore “must be licensed, controlled, and assisted to protect the public health, safety, morals, good order, and general welfare of the inhabitants of the state.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
