In the US midterm elections, it all comes down to Nevada

Forget Dr Oz, John Fetterman, Herschel Walker and Stacey Abrams. The future of the country – from the economy to Latino voters to abortion and democracy itself – will be decided in the Silver State, says Eric Garcia

The former US president Barack Obama is on the campaign trail in Nevada to help the Democratic candidates (AFP via Getty)

With less than a week to go, many observers of the 2022 midterms have kept their eyes fixed on Georgia’s Senate race between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock. Walker, the Republican candidate, is a former University of Georgia running back who stands accused of pressuring women he knew into abortions even as he publicly supported abortion bans with no exception for rape, incest or the life of the mother. Senator Warnock, his Democratic opponent, is the preacher at Martin Luther King Jr’s old pulpit. Elsewhere in the same state, the governor Brian Kemp faces a rematch against progressive superstar Stacey Abrams.

Or pundits have turned their focus to Pennsylvania, where former TV doctor Mehmet Oz and the literally larger-than-life John Fetterman are squaring off for the state’s Senate race. But while liberal Democrats are fretting about losing Warnock and Republicans are worrying they might lose their Senate seat in Pennsylvania, your reporter in Washington DC is keeping an eye on Nevada.

Nevada doesn’t get as much attention as other states, because outside of Las Vegas and Reno, it is largely seen as rural and desert – and it only has six electoral votes. But that doesn’t mean it is unimportant. In fact, I’ve been keeping an eye on the state ever since the Nevada caucuses in the 2020 Democratic primary, when eventual President Joe Biden posted a weak second place against Bernie Sanders. Sanders won thanks to an aggressive Latino outreach in the state.