Trump-endorsed Sam Brown wins Nevada Senate GOP primary

Retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, who clinched the last-minute backing of Donald Trump over the weekend, is projected to win the Nevada Senate GOP primary to take on Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) this fall, according to Decision Desk HQ. 

Brown defeated several challengers in the Republican contest, with his most formidable opponent being former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter, who served during the Trump administration.  

Brown had already been endorsed by the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm before he notched an endorsement from Trump just hours after the former president made weekend appearance in the Silver State. Gunter had attacked Brown over his allegiance to Trump, dubbing him “Scam Brown.”

Gunter alleged that Senate Republicans intervened to have Trump make a last-endorsement for Brown, but the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita pushed back against those accusations.  

“Proof Point as to why @DrJeffGunter didn’t earn the endorsement of @realDonaldTrump you have a habit of making up crap. President Trump makes his own decisions and this is another example of him choosing wisely,” LaCivita wrote on X. 

Still, Brown’s win in the GOP primary was largely expected even ahead of Trump’s endorsement. 

Brown now takes on first-term Rosen in November. Rosen won in 2018 against Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) by 5 percentage points. But Nevada races are historically close ones, including in 2022 when Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) won reelection against Republican Adam Laxalt by less than a point.  

“Congratulations to Captain Sam Brown on his resounding primary victory,” said NRSC Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in a statement Tuesday night. “A graduate of West Point, Sam is an American hero who is once again answering the call to serve our country. Sam’s support for securing our border and getting inflation under control stands in strong contrast to his opponent’s record of rubber-stamping Joe Biden’s disastrous policies.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) released a one-minute ad targeting the retired Army captain after he won his primary. The ad, which the group says will air on YouTube and target independents, highlights his previous comments related to Yucca Mountain when he previously expressed openness to consider using it as a site to store nuclear waste.

Brown has since walked back those comments and said on X “it should not, and will not, be revived as a nuclear waste repository.”

The ad also targets Brown over abortion and Social Security and Medicare.

“Sam Brown is a MAGA extremist, with a self-serving political agenda that would hurt hard working Nevadans: banning abortion, phasing out Social Security and Medicare, and even re-opening Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository,” DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman Baity said in a statement. “He’s shown Nevadans that his plans are too extreme and too dangerous for him to be anywhere near the U.S. Senate.”

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the seat a “toss up.”