Trump wins Nevada in first GOP presidential grab of the swing state since 2004

LAS VEGAS — Former President Donald Trump has won Nevada in the 2024 election — something no Republican has done in 20 years.

Trump leads his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris 660,980 votes (51.5%) to 601,118 (46.8%) in the battleground state, with 84% of votes counted.

Trump’s June 9 promise of “No Tax on Tips” — launched at this outdoor Las Vegas rally in baking heat — may have tipped Silver State voters to back the first GOP presidential nominee in 20 years. Bloomberg via Getty Images

Flipping the Silver State — which gets six electoral votes — from blue to red was no small task.

But the Democratic Party machine turned out to be no match for Trump’s “No Tax on Tips” proposal, which he unveiled at a rally here in June.

It was the first of several promised tax deals that energized Nevada voters — with Harris even signing onto it.

In the end, the political mantra of “It’s the economy, stupid” — coined by Bill Clinton aide James Carville in 1992 — likely played a crucial role in the results.

Pandemic-era shutdowns of Vegas casinos and resorts left tens of thousands unemployed and a bad taste in voters’ mouths. 

Even as the hot spots reopened, workers and their families faced massive inflation due largely to Biden-Harris administration spending, observers said.

In August, the Congressional Joint Economic Committee said that an average family in Nevada would have to fork over just under $1,200 each month to cover inflation’s cost since 2021.

With a population of 3.2 million — slightly more than one-third of New York City’s total — the state drew what some would consider outsized attention this year, with nominees and their surrogates becoming familiar sights.

Starting with that sweltering June 9 outdoor Trump rally, both candidates often included Sin City on their itineraries.

Harris stumped in the Silver State 10 times over the year, including several appearances before President Biden dropped out of the race.

In what turned out to be his last public campaign appearance as a presidential candidate, President Joe Biden told the NAACP convention audience in Las Vegas on July 16 that Kamala Harris “could be president of the United States.” REUTERS

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, also prioritized campaigning in Nevada.

Vance spoke at a massive July 30 rally at a Henderson high school gymnasium and then returned in mid-October for a rally with supporters.

The ex-prez, whose 64-story Trump International Hotel Las Vegas looms large over the Las Vegas Strip, made multiple visits — ranging from a large rally at the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, campus to a Hispanic business roundtable in North Las Vegas to a campaign rally in Reno.

Former President Barack Obama, shown here with Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, spoke for Harris in a North Las Vegas appearance. Getty Images

Surrogates supporting each candidate stopped off in Nevada as well.

Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton stumped for Harris, along with First Lady Jill Biden, Gwen Walz, wife of VP nominee Gov. Tim Walz; actress Elizabeth Banks and a raft of elected Democratic officials.

For Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who joined the GOP this year, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former race-car driver Danica Patrick led the list of Republican-supporting speakers.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii — who switched to Republican affiliation in October — and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speak for Trump at a Las Vegas event. Bizuayehu Tesfaye/NY POST

Harris’ surrogates hammered Trump over the question of abortion. A 2022 US Supreme Court ruling returned decisions about abortion regulation to each of the 50 states, leading to bans on the procedure in some jurisdictions and laws supporting it in others.

Nevada — which codified a state right to the procedure three decades ago — had a pro-abortion constitutional amendment on the ballot this year, a move critics said was designed in part to hammer Republican candidates over the issue. 

And hammer the Democrats did — from the veep on down.

Harris and her surrogates constantly returned to the “reproductive freedom” message, warning Silver State women that a “Trump abortion ban” was in the wings, even if voters approved the constitutional safeguard. Trump and his campaign denied such plans.

In turn, Trump’s celebrity allies emphasized the better economy and more peaceful world Americans faced during the billionaire’s first presidential term, promising a return to prosperity with his return to office.

Mesquite, Nevada resident Sue Berkey says that’s why she’s voting to put Trump back in office.

“I think he did a lot the last time he was in there, but soon as he went out, they changed everything, like the oil pipeline, and then the border. So I think he needs to get back in there to do something,” she told The Post.

She also said she and her husband, both California expats, are doing better financially because they netted money from selling their Reno home up north — but inflation still takes a toll, particularly with food prices.

She’s not the only Mesquite voter who told The Post her family’s not better off than it was four years ago.

Wally Pousy, a retired Washington state employee who’s lived in the area nearly a decade, said he and his wife aren’t doing any better now. Speaking to The Post while loading groceries from the local supermarket into their car, they named higher food and gasoline prices under Biden-Harris as the culprit.

“We’re voting for Trump,” the 79-year-old said at the time.

Asked if that was because he believed the ex-prez would tackle inflation, he replied: “That, and quite a few other things.”