Harris hires top Nevada political operative ahead of the midterms

Vice President Harris has hired Megan Jones, a former top aide to the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), to join her team ahead of the midterm elections, a White House official told The Hill.

Jones will start her role in Harris’s office as a temporary special government employee this week, Politico first reported.

Jones brings with her key knowledge of the battleground state of Nevada. After working for Reid, she has served as a partner at public affairs firm Hilltop Public Solutions out of Las Vegas and had a stint advising for Harris’s 2020 presidential run in the Silver State.

She joins Harris’s team as the administration is trying to hold on to Nevada, which Biden won in 2020, and court Hispanic voters ahead of the November midterms. Polling in July showed Biden behind both former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) among Nevada voters in hypothetical match-ups.

Jones worked for Reid on his reelection campaigns in 1998, 2004 and 2012. She also worked for former President Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012 and worked to elect Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) in 2016.

Cortez Masto, who replaced Reid in the Senate when he retired in 2017, is in a closely watched Senate race this year. She was leading her challenger, Trump-backed former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt (R), by 7 points in a recent poll.

In Nevada, Jones has been working on local races and working for clients including Everytown for Gun Safety, NextGen and the Western Conservation Foundation, according to the Hilltop website.

Updated Sept. 1, 9:54 a.m.