In the fall of 2022, all eyes were on Nevada. As Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and her allies crisscrossed the state, she was flanked by reporters from national outlets narrowed in on the race they were convinced would decide the Senate. The New York Times called her “the most politically endangered Democrat incumbent.” FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver said Nevada could be Senate Republicans’ “ace in the hole” and ranked it as their best pickup opportunity.

Sam Brown, the retired U.S. Army captain, is polling as the front-runner to win the Nevada Republican primary in June for U.S. Senate. Fittingly, Brown grabbed a key endorsement last week from within his party when Gov. Joe Lombardo announced his support.

Nevada remains stuck at 5.3% unemployment despite job growth statistics that suggest there’s plenty of work out there. Why hasn’t the state’s unemployment rate returned to pre-pandemic levels, when it was around 3.6%? That was the lowest it had been since 1976, and it was roughly equal to the national average just before the COVID-19 lockdown four years ago.

Southern Nevada’s economy is less diversified compared to other Mountain West metropolitan areas despite gains in key economic sectors over the past decade. The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) unveiled a study prepared by UNLV’s Brookings Mountain West, Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) and Transportation Research Center that addresses key barriers and makes recommendations to strengthen and diversify the Southern Nevada economy.

Incorporated on May 1, 1946, the City of North Las Vegas (NLV) has a long history in southern Nevada. Since its beginnings, the city has established itself as an economic oasis in the region due to the area’s abundance of land, steady pipeline of available workers, pro-business environment and easy reach to western markets.

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expending political and financial capital around the country — from Ohio to Nevada — on ballot measures to enshrine abortion protections in state constitutions. But similar efforts in Illinois remain in limbo.

Republican front-runner Sam Brown threw a curveball in Nevada’s Senate race last Wednesday when he revealed in an NBC interview that he would not support a federal abortion ban and respects Nevada’s current law protecting abortion up to 24 weeks.

Democrats say the state’s economy is getting better, while Republicans argue it’s getting worse. Which message resonates more could decide the pivotal battleground state this fall.