Scott Sonner / AP
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., delivers the keynote address Saturday, June 23, 2018, to the Nevada Democratic Convention in Reno.
Saturday, June 23, 2018 | 11:47 a.m.
Democrats took to the most conservative congressional district in Nevada today for their state party convention as Republicans rallied in the heavily Democratic Clark County.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren headlined the event in Reno as President Donald Trump prepared to speak in Las Vegas for the Republican convention and a fundraiser with U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, the only senator seeking reelection in a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.
Nevada Democrats Chairman William McCurdy II said Warren knows how important Nevada is in the 2018 election.
“You were the bright spot in 2016,” Warren told the audience.
She spoke against Trump’s immigration policies, in favor of unions and drew one of several standing ovations when she said she believes in science.
The Trump administration has largely removed language on climate change from its websites.
Warren said the state has an opportunity to elect the country’s first female-majority state Legislature, where it currently has one of the largest proportions of women lawmakers in the country.
“Make no mistake, none of this is going to be easy. We will face obstacles together and no matter what is thrown our way, we will persist,” she said, referring to remarks by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell when he cut her off from criticizing then-fellow Sen. Jeff Sessions.
The Democrats’ convention was in the 2nd Congressional District, where Republicans have their biggest edge in active voter registration.
Democrats emphasized the need to register voters and get them to the polls in November. Clint Koble is seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, who has held the seat since 2011.
U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen is seeking to replace Heller and told Democrats today that Heller flip-flopped on health care. She criticized his vote to repeal and replace Obamacare after standing with Gov. Brian Sandoval to say he couldn’t vote for the GOP health bill under consideration at the time.
Rosen also spoke against the federal government’s initial policy of separating children from parents who cross the border illegally and now an executive order that immigration advocates say is opening the door for indefinite detention of families.
Rosen is going to the border Monday to visit children at a tent detention facility.
Gubernatorial candidate Steve Sisolak told the crowd he knew some of them voted for one of his primary opponents but that he wants to earn their support. He said Democrats need to work together to ensure state Attorney General Adam Laxalt does not become governor.
He criticized Laxalt for a lack of enforcement of the state’s gun background check law. Laxalt issued an opinion on the law that said it could not be enforced without FBI cooperation. A lawsuit over the lack of movement on the law is making its way through court.
“Laxalt won’t do that, but I will,” Sisolak said.
