Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

For Democrats, money buys political ads but not elections

Democrats with money who lost

Normally the amount of money a candidate raises is an easy shorthand for how they'll fare in the election. More money means more advertisements and better campaign consultants. A big campaign war chest can also scare off challengers.

But in this year's election, the color red was more important than the color green.

In statewide and legislative races, 13 Democrats raised more money than their opponents but lost.

The losses were part of a historic Republican sweep that saw them capitalize on low voter turnout to capture all six statewide offices and majorities in the Assembly and Senate.

Republican John Moore raised just $1,184, all of it coming in the last month of the campaign for the state Assembly. His Democratic incumbent Jason Frierson brought in $382,000. That's a $322 to $1 advantage for Frierson over Moore.

But on Election Day, Moore won with a slim 40-vote margin out of 8,334 ballots cast in the Las Vegas district.

A similar trend played out in seven other Assembly races where Republican candidates won despite losing the fundraising battle by margins of as much as 12 to 1.

Huge campaign war chests also weren't enough to save some of the Democrats' top candidates.

Attorney general candidate Ross Miller, a Democrat, raised $2.5 million, a $1 million advantage over Republican Adam Laxalt. Miller came up short on Tuesday, losing a tight race by 1 percentage point.

Congressman Steven Horsford raised $1.4 million, five times as much as Republican Cresent Hardy. Yet it's Hardy who will be representing the 4th Congressional District. Hardy won by nearly 3 percentage points.

In both those races, outside spending helped boost Laxalt and Hardy despite their comparatively diminutive fundraising. Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS spent $1 million, nearly equal to what Horsford raised, on attack ads.

The Republican Attorney General Association spent $1.6 million on ads targeting Miller and supporting Laxalt in the attorney general's race.

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