Former Army Capt. Sam Brown easily won the GOP nomination Tuesday to challenge Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in Nevada, another victory for national Republicans in their effort to set up their preferred matchups in swing states this year.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee backed Brown from the get-go, and he had been widely expected to win. But Jeffrey Gunter, a dermatologist and former ambassador to Iceland under former President Donald Trump, self-funded a campaign that became a thorn in the national GOP’s side in one of several races that will help decide control of the U.S. Senate.
An Army veteran, Brown was nearly killed in Afghanistan in 2008 after his unit was struck by an improvised explosive device; he survived with severe burns on 30 percent of his body and visible scarring and was awarded a Purple Heart. He later launched a business providing medication to veterans.
Brown previously ran for Senate in Nevada in 2022, losing the GOP primary to former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who went on to lose to Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in one of the closest races in the country that year. This time, Brown had early national backing to go with his own strong fundraising. And he got a last-minute endorsement from Trump on Truth Social shortly after Trump rallied supporters in Las Vegas on Sunday — infuriating Gunter.
The NRSC’s support of Brown served as an example of Chair Steve Daines’ efforts to influence primaries in potentially competitive states, a response to frustrations that the party lost winnable seats in 2022 in part because they fielded candidates widely viewed as weak. In addition to Brown, the party committee backed Tim Sheehy in Montana, with Daines encouraging Trump to do the same and effectively boxing out Rep. Matt Rosendale, who briefly ran for the seat. And Daines issued early statements of support for Senate candidates including Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, who ended up drawing no challengers, and former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan, who eventually drew a Trump endorsement as well.
In Nevada, Brown still faces a steep challenge as he takes on Rosen, a first-term senator from the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. Her campaign reported having more than $10 million cash on hand as of late May, compared with $2.5 million for Brown.
Democrats have prepared for months to take on Brown, and Rosen’s campaign released an ad last month going after him on abortion rights. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released another spot Tuesday night characterizing Brown as a “MAGA extremist” and highlighting comments he made in 2022 suggesting support for reopening Yucca Mountain to store nuclear waste.
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