Clinton takes toss-up Nevada

Hillary Clinton is the projected winner of Nevada’s six electoral votes, continuing a blue trend for the state.

In the weeks before the election, the Clinton camp blanketed the Silver State with more than two dozen rallies — many of them studded with stars like Katy Perry and DJ Steve Aoki — in hopes of increasing Democratic voter turnout. 

{mosads}The intense effort, combined with Republican nominee Donald Trump’s tough immigration rhetoric driving Latino turnout, may have helped push Clinton across the finish line.

Democrats have felt positive about their chances in the state, bolstered by early-voting turnout that gave registered Democrats a 6-point lead. In particular, there had been a surge in Latino voters during the two-week early-voting period.

Clinton had also fought hard for a primary victory in Nevada against her Democratic challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Despite the lack of a comprehensive ground game, Trump also battled for votes in Nevada, especially during the final stretch.

Many polls still gave him the edge over Clinton. However, many of those polls trended toward undercounting Latino voters, particularly those in Spanish-language-dominant households.

In recent history, the state has bounced from Democrat to Republican and back again.

President Obama won the state in both 2008 and 2012, but President George W. Bush won Nevada during his initial campaign for the White House in 2000 and during his 2004 reelection bid. In 1992 and 1996, President Bill Clinton carried the state. 

Overall, Nevada has voted with the winning candidate since 1980.

In 2010, Nevada’s population had grown roughly 35 percent from the previous decade, and it gained an extra Electoral College vote — bringing the state’s total from five to six votes.