Election Night: Road Trip Through Nevada

We are taking a road trip through the swing state, ending the night Las Vegas to report on the national election as the numbers come in.
Slideshow Bill
By 
November 02, 2012

Campaign Trail

In the race for the Presidency, Nevada is the only battleground state left in the Fronteras region.

Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. From the time Obama has been in office that rate has grown from 9.6 percent to 11.6 percent. Nevada was nailed by the housing crisis and has a shrinking median household income rate. And none of this is lost on Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. So why is it still a swing state? The answer is in two Ls, Latinos, who make up 15 percent of the electorate and Las Vegas, the state’s most populous city.

Latinos make up 27 percent of Nevada’s population. Obama won 76 percent of their vote in 2008, and it is looking hopeful that he will win their vote again. Latino Decisions polling has 78 percent of registered Latino voters supporting the President for the second term.

Although polling is suggesting the state is leaning Obama, it's still anyone's race.

Election Night

Photo by Veronica Zaragovia
Supporters of President Barack Obama showed their enthusiasm for his reelection at the Nevada Democratic Party's celebration. The event took place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

UPDATED 2:53 PM

Photo by Veronica Zaragovia
Congressman Steven Horsford, elected to represent Nevada's new 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, greets supporters at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas at the Election Day celebration.

We are taking a road trip through the swing state, ending the night Las Vegas to report on the national election as the numbers come in. Along the way we will be knocking on doors, going in bars, talking to business owners — exploring the issues that matter to Nevada through its citizens.

Before night's end, President Barack Obama had won the state with 52.3 percent of the vote, and Gov. Mitt Romney had 45.7. For full results, visit the site of the Nevada Secretary of State.

The U.S. Senate race ended with Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley losing to her Republican opponent, Sen. Dean Heller, 44.69 percent to 45.91 percent.

The winner of the U.S. Representative race, District 3, was Joe Heck, who beat John Oceguera. Steven Horsford, the majority leader of the Nevada Senate, was elected to represent the new 4th Congressional District. Horsford made history on Nov. 6 becoming the first black Nevada congressman to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

UPDATED 6:40 PM

Brittany Roberts, left, and Hugo Rodriguez both voted for the first time this election. Both are 19-year-old Starbucks employees who cast their ballots for President Barack Obama.

Photo by Veronica Zaragovia

5:12 PM

Photo by Veronica Zaragovia

Jennifer Whitmer, 26, left, and Ezra Needham, 26, both graduate students in sociology, voted for President Barack Obama in Las Vegas. They both expressed support of Obama’s stance on women’s rights to birth control and abortion as a main reason.

11:45 am

One Filipina-American woman explains the role same sex marriage played in her vote for Romney.

11:25 am

Photo by Veronica Zaragovia

Clarita Granada (left) works at the MGM Grand and Ruperto Roque, Jr., a taxi driver, voted for Barack Obama at Las Vegas High School, on the southeast side of the city. As a recent U.S. citizen this is Roque's first time voting.