LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Republicans from Washington, D.C. to Las Vegas criticized Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the day before they are set to speak at a rally.
Republicans criticized the Democratic duo over inflation, immigration, crime and other issues, seeking to blunt the impact of what looks to be a large crowd at the Thomas & Mack at UNLV.
Mason DiPalma, deputy communications director for the Republican State Leadership Committee, said he had just one question for voters who are planning to attend the speech.
"I want them to keep in mind the question of, are you better off now than where you were four years ago?" DiPalma said. "By and large, people are saying, 'No, I'm not better off. I'm actually worse off. Why am I worse off? I'm paying more at the gas pump, I'm paying more at the grocery store.'"
DiPalma said his group plans to tie dissatisfaction with Harris to candidates for the state Legislature, as Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo works to prevent Democrats from securing a veto-proof supermajority for the 2025 session.
On Friday afternoon, Republicans gathered at the Clark County GOP headquarters in Henderson to make sure Harris and Walz don't have the stage all to themselves over the weekend.
Speakers targeted Harris over immigration, one of the issues that President Joe Biden assigned her to work on as vice president. Harris was not in charge of border security, however, only trying to reduce illegal immigration to the country.
"Border czar? How'd that work out?" asked Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald at the news conference.
Republicans said the economy was their No. 1 issue in the 2024 campaign since they believe Nevadans are still feeling the effects of inflation.
"The working men and women. Union members. Mom and pops. We cannot afford to live," McDonald said at the news conference, surrounded by voters holding Trump-Vance signs. "The price of gas is through the roof. Our utilities: through the roof. How many of you that are raising a family can get by? I know none of the people behind me can."
Although inflation and unemployment have fallen, Nevada still has the nation's highest unemployment rate, tied with California at 5.2% in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Democrats say President Joe Biden was responsible for helping the country and the state recover from the damage of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began under former President Donald Trump. They say his efforts — including the American Rescue Plan and the infrastructure act — helped provide jobs and get the country back on the right path.
Las Vegas native Carolyn Salvador Avila, president of the national College Democrats group, says the economy doesn't heal overnight.
"I think President Joe Biden has done the absolute best that he can with the situation he was handed, but we did just make it through a pandemic pretty recently, one in a century," she said. "And the handling of that pandemic [by Trump] I don't think was very great, and I would challenge them to try to think of a legislation that made anything good in terms of the economy when President Trump was in office."
Trump did pass a massive tax cut for businesses and individuals, although the individual tax cut has since expired.
Avila said Democrats are excited about Harris's visit, reflecting enthusiasm that has greeted her and Walz across the country this week as they held rallies in other battleground states.
To be sure, Trump is reportedly irked at the publicity given to Harris's crowd size. He complained about that during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Thursday.
Avila says Nevada has a special place in the country as the leader in embracing Harris as a top-of-the-ticket candidate.
"We were the first battleground state to actually pledge our support to Kamala Harris right after President Biden's endorsement of her," Avila said. "And I think that excitement is pretty clear. We're going to have a pretty packed crowd on Saturday and honestly. I think that's just a testament to how many people are ready to get out there and vote for a more secure future."
Polls have flipped since Biden left the race and endorsed Harris as a successor, although it's still extremely close. The Real Clear Politics polling average on Friday had Harris up by half a percentage point, while the New York Times average saw Harris leading by a full point. The fivethirtyeight.com average puts Harris up by 2 points.
