It's a special first for Ballot Battleground: Nevada this week - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D) stops by the studio for an extended sit-down interview. Host Ben Margiott interviews the Silver State's senior senator on her work in the Senate, swapping out Biden for Harris, the no taxes on tips proposal, ranked-choice voting, the Washoe County lands bill and much more. Plus, at the end of the episode, it's another edition of our new segment fact-checking political commercials. This week, a closer examination of two ads related to housing in Nevada's hotly contested U.S. Senate race.

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After the infamous Trump-Biden debate, it seemed Nevada might be out of reach for Democrats. But it's now back in play after the party switched out their struggling nominee for Kamala Harris. Jessica Taylor with the Cook Political Report, one of the nation's best election forecasters, joins to give her expert analysis on the state of play here in the Silver State. Plus, we launch a new fact-checking segment where we explain and provide context on campaign commercials, starting with a look at Sam Brown and Jacky Rosen's ads on abortion.

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Should diapers be exempted from Nevada's state sales tax like so many other essential items? Voters will get the chance to decide on Question 5 in November. There likely won't be much money spent on ads or opposition to this measure, but it's still worth explaining the benefits and possible drawbacks - including a loss of revenue for the state. This week, Baby's Bounty CEO and executive director Kelly Maxwell joins Ballot Battleground: Nevada to make the case for a sales tax exemption for child and adult diapers.

Previous episodes on Nevada's abortion amendment, which will be Question 6 on the November ballot:

Advocates push for permanent abortion protections in Nevada

Will abortion be on the ballot in November?

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Independent presidential candidate RFK Jr. will be on Nevada's ballot in November after officially filing with the state this month. He's a longshot to win the White House, polling at around 5% currently. But is that enough to spoil the election for Harris or Trump? Or is the worry about a spoiler overblown? UNLV political science professor Dan Lee joins the podcast this week to talk about how third party and independent candidates have fared in Nevada history - and whether this cycle will be any different.

(Note: This episode was recorded on Monday, before a judge ruled the Green Party can be on the 2024 ballot)

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Clean up the voter rolls. The plea has become more common amid the baseless claims of widespread voter fraud - but nearly everyone agrees it's a good thing to keep the massive list of all registered Nevada voters as up to date as possible. Still, there are federal and state laws that make it difficult by design to remove someone from the rolls. With the primary well behind us now, voter roll list maintenance is well underway. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar joins to explain why it's such a critical part of our electoral system and how Nevadans can help clean the voter rolls ahead of the general election. Plus, details on Aguilar's recent experience at the Taylor Swift concert in Munich, Germany.

Some Nevada voters now inactive after voter roll cleanup - here's what that means

Nevada sends postcards to 8% of voters to verify status before presidential election

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It's less than 100 days until the 2024 presidential election and the campaigns are ramping up in the Silver State. On this episode, host Ben Margiott takes you to Trump VP pick JD Vance's campaign rally in Reno, where he focused on immigration and hammered Kamala Harris for the Biden administration's border policies. Then, special guest Christ Murphy joins again to dig through the Ballot Battleground: Nevada mailbag. Ben and Chris talked about Project 2025, RFK Jr., voter ID, ballot questions, the way-too-early race for Reno mayor, the best sandwich in the Biggest Little City and much more.

What's Project 2025? Unpacking the Pro-Trump Plan to Overhaul US Government

Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen introduces bill to allow sale of federal lands in Washoe County

Nevada's top prosecutor seeks to uphold charges against fake electors

Voter ID - a critical safeguard or unnecessary burden? Nevada voters could decide

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Less than 4 months until Election Day, a sitting U.S. President who ran for re-election has stepped aside. Joe Biden's announcement over the weekend that he would no longer run for president upended the 2024 race. What does it mean for Nevada? What do our 49 Democratic delegates do now? What is the precedent for such a race-altering event this late in the campaign? On this emergency episode of Ballot Battleground: Nevada, host Ben Margiott interviews Jon Ralston, CEO of The Nevada Independent and UNR political science professor Jeremy Gelman to get their insight on Biden dropping out and Kamala Harris' viability as a candidate.

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Is requiring voter ID a critical safeguard that will improve voter confidence? Or an unnecessary burden that could depress turnout? Nevada voters could decide this November on a ballot measure requiring photo identification to cast a ballot. How would it work? What about people that don't have ID? Is this a solution in search of a problem? Host Ben Margiott interviews advocates on both sides of the issue - Dave Gibbs with the Repair the Vote PAC and Kerry Durmick with All Voting is Local Nevada.

Voter ID: Critical safeguard or unnecessary burden? Nevada voters could decide

Vote Ballot Battleground: Nevada for best local podcast

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Should Nevada automatically recount results in close races? Or continue to make the candidates pay regardless of the margin? What about 'frivolous' recounts requested in races where the outcome will almost certainly never change? The debate over recount policy in the Silver State has reignited after multiple recounts in Washoe County after the primary. This week, host Ben Margiott interviews Deb Otis with FairVote, a nonpartisan policy group advocating for various electoral reforms. Ben and Deb chat about the history of recounts in statewide elections since 2000, how often they change outcomes and balancing the need for recounts in tight races against the burden they put on election administrators.

An analysis of statewide election recounts, 2000-2023 - FairVote

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Drag Queen Devon. Beth "Death" Smith. Veto Villain. The list of nasty and personal attacks, many of them launched by right-wing activist Robert Beadles, goes on and on. What does it do to the people who are targeted? Why are some taking this tactic, even though it's been largely unsuccessful? Where should we draw the line? In this two-part series, host Ben Margiott interviews candidates, activists and experts about the increasingly nasty political rhetoric and what can be done about it.

In episode 2, Andre Wade with Silver State Equality on the toll such attacks take on marginalized communities. Plus, we continue our conversation with Dr. Amy Pason about the Dignity Index, why it matters and how she would rank some attacks we've mentioned on that objective scale.

The Dignity Index

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