The week that was: Rosen and Heck attacked, campaign bills add up

By Megan Messerly

Monday, Sept. 26, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Another week means another deluge of politicking, as candidates woo voters (and attack each other) and operatives supporting them pull every possible big-money stunt. For those blissfully unaware or purposely avoiding the crush of information, we’ve boiled down the essentials from the past week. From the money pouring into the race for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s seat to famous feminist Gloria Steinem stumping for Hillary Clinton, the Insider has the details you need.

Price tag for campaigning: Almost $60 million so far

The race to replace veteran U.S. Sen. Harry Reid could wind up being the most costly Senate race in Nevada’s history. But the two competitive races in Nevada’s 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts are running up the bills as well. Here’s a sampling of how much money has been raised and spent in the three races, in addition to how much money groups have poured into the races:

• Senate: $16,304,997 raised; $7,346,547 spent; $30,193,881 in outside spending

• Congressional District 3: $1,547,498 raised; $1,124,508 spent; $3,824,611 in outside spending

• Congressional District 4: $2,424,853 raised; $1,493,629 spent; $1,743,905 in outside spending

* Candidate fundraising totals through June 30; outside spending totals through Sept. 20

** Data courtesy of ProPublica’s FEC Itemizer

Battle Born Battleground: Ads attack with symbolism

• An ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee compared Democratic congressional candidate Jacky Rosen to a tomato. Rosen, a local synagogue leader, has never held office. That makes it hard to attack her, since she doesn’t have a political record to pick apart. Republicans have tried to tie her to Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, who encouraged Rosen to run in the 3rd District. The ad says Rosen was “handpicked for Congress by Washington liberals” like you might handpick a tomato.

• If the group Emily’s List, which works to elect pro-abortion rights Democratic women, is to be believed, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Heck, who is a physician, only wears a white coat and stethoscope when he’s playing a doctor on TV. The ad shows an actor portraying Heck taking off the white coat and wiping his stage makeup off to reveal the “real” Heck, in full suit and tie with a “Dr. Joe Heck for U.S. Senate” button pinned to it. The ad pushes back on positive spots Heck’s campaign has been running touting his experience as a doctor and as a member of the Army Reserve.

This week in fact-checking

Mostly true. That’s the rating PolitiFact gave an ad from the LIBRE Initiative attacking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto for opposing the state’s Education Savings Account, or school choice, program. The ad overstated Hispanic support for the program, as well as the number of students benefiting. The ad claims “Latinos in Nevada support Education Savings Accounts, helping more than 450,000 students access better schools,” but there have been only about 7,800 applicants. A poll cited showed support from 71 percent of Hispanics in Nevada, but a more recent poll found 47 percent in support.

On the campaign trail

• Breaking the glass: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign staged a weeklong series of events called “Glass Breakers.” They showcased women running for office in Nevada, including congressional candidates Jacky Rosen and Rep. Dina Titus, as well as candidates for the state Legislature, including state Sen. Joyce Woodhouse and Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson. Women’s rights’ advocate Gloria Steinem campaigned in Reno for Clinton on Sept. 20. The week wrapped with a Glass Breakers Summit on Sept. 24 with U.S. Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto and Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan at the College of Southern Nevada’s Cheyenne campus.

• Amodei for Trump: With only seven weeks before the election, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign named Republican Rep. Mark Amodei as Nevada state chair. In a statement, Trump said Amodei “has resisted the pull of special interests in Washington to fight for change and for the people of Nevada.” Unlike the other prominent Republicans running for re-election in the state, Amodei is relatively safe in the 2nd Congressional District — a Republican stronghold in the North — though he does face a challenge from Democratic former businessman Chip Evans. Amodei has campaigned for Trump several times in Northern Nevada, though in July he told the Reno Gazette-Journal that Trump would either be a “smoking black hole” or the “next messiah.”