Donald Trump wins Nevada in the first Republican presidential nomination in the swing state since 2004

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump won Nevada in the 2024 election, something no Republican has done in 20 years.

Trump leads his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris 660,980 votes (51.5%) to 601,118 (46.8%) in the battleground state, with 84% of votes counted.

Flipping the Silver State — which receives six electoral votes — from blue to red was no easy task.

But the Democratic party machine was no match for Trump's “no tax on tips” proposal, which he unveiled at a rally here in June.

It was the first of several promised tax deals that excited Nevada voters — and Harris even signed it.

In the end, the political mantra “It’s the economy, stupid” – coined by Bill Clinton adviser James Carville in 1992 – likely played a crucial role in the results.

The closures of Vegas casinos and resorts during the pandemic left tens of thousands unemployed and put a bad taste in voters' mouths.

Even as hot spots reopened, workers and their families faced massive inflation, largely due to spending by the Biden-Harris administration, observers said.

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In August, Congress' Joint Economic Committee said the average Nevada family would need to spend just under $1,200 each month since 2021 to cover the costs of inflation.

With a population of 3.2 million — just over a third of New York City's total population — the state attracted what some would call outsized attention this year as nominees and their alternates became familiar sights.

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Starting with that steamy outdoor Trump rally on June 9, both candidates often included Sin City on their itineraries.

Harris failed in the Silver State 10 times during the year, including several appearances before President Biden dropped out of the race.

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, also attached great importance to the election campaign in Nevada.

Vance spoke at a large rally in a Henderson high school gym on July 30 and then returned to a rally with supporters in mid-October.

The ex-Prez, whose 64-story Trump International Hotel Las Vegas towers over the Las Vegas Strip, made several visits – from a large rally at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to a Hispanics from the business roundtable in North Las Vegas to a campaign rally in Reno.

Surrogates supporting each candidate also made a stop in Nevada.

Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton voted for Harris, as did first lady Jill Biden, Gwen Walz, wife of vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz; Actress Elizabeth Banks and a number of Democratic elected officials.

For Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who joined the GOP this year, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former race car driver Danica Patrick led the list of Republican-supporting speakers.

Harris' deputies gave Trump trouble on the abortion issue. A 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling returned abortion regulation decisions to each of the 50 states, resulting in the procedure being banned in some jurisdictions and supported by legislation in others.

Nevada — which codified a state right to the procedure three decades ago — had a constitutional amendment on abortion on the ballot this year, a move critics say was aimed in part at hammering Republican candidates on the issue.

And the Democrats did it – from the start.

Harris and her surrogates repeatedly returned to the message of “reproductive freedom” and warned the women of the Silver State that a “Trump abortion ban” was in the wings even if voters approved the Constitution. Trump and his campaign denied such plans.

In return, Trump's prominent allies emphasized the better economy and a more peaceful world that Americans faced during the billionaire's first term as president, promising a return to prosperity with his return to office.

Sue Berkey of Mesquite, Nevada, says that's why she's voting to put Trump back in office.

“I think he did a lot the last time he was there, but when he got out they changed everything, like the oil pipeline and then the border. That’s why I think he needs to get back in there to do something,” she told The Post.

She also said she and her husband, both expats from California, are doing better financially because they made money selling their home up north in Reno — but inflation is still taking its toll, especially on food prices.

She's not the only Mesquite voter who told the Post that her family is no better off than it was four years ago.

Wally Pousy, a retired Washington state employee who has lived in the area for nearly a decade, said he and his wife are no better now. Speaking to the Post while loading groceries from the local supermarket into their car, they cited higher food and gas prices under Biden-Harris as the culprit.

“We’re voting for Trump,” the 79-year-old said at the time.

Asked if that was because he believed the ex-Prez would fight inflation, he replied: “That and a few other things.”