Hillary Clinton made her first general election campaign stop in Nevada on Thursday, seeking to both draw a sharp contrast between herself and Republican Donald Trump and to solidify support ahead of what will likely be a close race in Nevada.
The former First Lady and Secretary of State toured a local electrical contracting company and spoke to hundreds gathered at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Hall in East Las Vegas. Her last Nevada trip was in July.
Clinton is doing all kinds of NV-specific stuff on Trump, on the recession here, more. She knows the state pretty well. Why? Um, #WeMatter
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) August 4, 2016
Clinton, speaking to reporters and electrical workers at Mojave Electric, said she took it “personally” that Trump outsourced many of his products to foreign factories and reports that he shortchanged contractors at his businesses.
“You know, when you run for president, you need to be judged on what you have done,” she said. “And I think the evidence is pretty clear. Everything he’s made, he’s made somewhere else.”
Hillary talks about Trump trying “to bust unions just like he did right here in Las Vegas.” Culinary just won big victory over Trump here.
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) August 4, 2016
Clinton in her speech mixed in policy goals, like free access to community college and tax credits for businesses with paid apprenticeships, with attacks on Trump, calling him “temperamentally unfit to be commander in chief.”
Roughly 1,400 people attended the rally, with several hundred watching from an overflow tent outside the union hall.
Both Clinton and Trump have their eyes on Nevada’s six electoral votes, and the state has gone with the presidential winner every year since 1972. The two are running neck and neck in Nevada, with a new KTNV-TV 13 Action News/Rasmussen Reports poll showing Clinton narrowly leading Trump by a 41 to 40 percent margin among likely voters.
Prominent Nevada Democrats including retiring Sen. Harry Reid, Congresswoman Dina Titus and Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto all spoke before Clinton, with Reid praising her as the “most intelligent person” to ever run for president.
Hard to hear but I think @SenatorReid called HRC "the most intelligent person ever to run for president"
— Riley Snyder (@RileySnyder) August 4, 2016
Reid told reporters following Clinton’s speech that he was didn’t want to be overconfident in predicting a Trump loss in Nevada, but said the candidate had a good shot to compete in traditionally Republican states like Utah and Georgia.
.@NVGOP folks handing these out at Hillary event in Vegas pic.twitter.com/mIVLFNXKrg
— Riley Snyder (@RileySnyder) August 4, 2016
Other candidates are also zeroing in on Nevada: Republican Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence made stops in Reno and Carson City on Monday, and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is scheduled to speak at a town hall in Reno on Friday.
ORIGINAL STORY
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be in Las Vegas on Thursday.
She is scheduled to address electrical workers during a big rally at the Mojave Electric Company around 11:45 a.m.
Then, she will be attending an event that is being hosted by the Nevada Democratic Party at the IBEW Hall on North Lamb Boulevard. That is scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m. and the public is invited to attend. Doors will open to the public at 11:15 a.m.
Sen. Harry Reid and Congresswoman Dina Titus are expected to be at the second event as well.
13 Action News will be live streaming both events.
