Republican Sam Brown drops out of Nevada Senate debate due to polling deficits

LAS VEGAS (AP) — GOP candidate Sam Brown spent Thursday’s Nevada Senate debate targeting Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen as he still faces a polling deficit as Election Day approaches.

On three separate occasions, Brown called Rosen an “elitist” and an “insider” while attempting to portray himself as an outside force bringing the voice of the people to Washington, DC. In contrast, Rosen spent the evening focused primarily on her own track record, and she has roots in Nevada and is hoping to stay out of the competition and extend her lead in the polls.

Brown was so eager to attack Rosen that he even used a question about possible alien life to take a swipe at him, a theme that continued throughout the debate.

The tension eased early in the debate when the two candidates brought up the issue of housing, as rising prices made home ownership more difficult for Nevadans. Rosen suggested holding corporate investors accountable to people for buying up properties and pricing them.

“When you have a housing shortage and these corporate investors are buying up all the houses and driving prices up to unreasonable levels, it hurts your community,” Rosen said, referring to her proposed legislation, “The Home Act.” “We will fine them,” Rosen said.

“It is interesting that Senator Rosen expresses a desire to impose fines on greedy companies,” Brown said. “What if we punished greedy politicians who make things more unaffordable for us?”

Another focus of the debate was immigration, as the candidates were asked about former President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy proposal, border security and immigration reform. Nearly 29% of Nevada is Hispanic or Latino, according to 2020 Census Bureau data, as candidates clashed over immigration issues.

“Mass deportations, who would get caught?” asked Rosen. “How many innocent people would be arrested?”

“We need to think about what we do and not use it as a political football,” she continued.

Brown responded, “That’s again what you’d expect from a D.C. elitist whose own neighborhood has more security than our border, with gates and security guards.”

“Our border deserves this too. Our communities deserve this,” Brown said.

And when moderators asked Rosen and Brown whether Congress should conduct an independent investigation into UFOs, Rosen answered the question.

“I think it’s important that we conduct our independent investigation in the Senate,” responded Rosen, who represents the state where Area 51 is located.

“I’m as curious as anyone. I’d like to know what’s going on,” Brown said before turning around sharply.

“But when it comes to secrets, here are the secrets that I think Nevadans deserve to know, and that’s why Senator Rosen has violated the STOCK Act on multiple occasions?” Brown seized to.

While Rosen spent the evening emphasizing her credibility as a senator from Nevada and reminding the audience that she has been a Nevadan all her life, she took a dig at Brown when the issue of reproductive rights came up.

Abortion is legal in Nevada up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Fearing that such rights could be eliminated in the future, reproductive rights advocates collected enough signatures this summer to place a measure enshrining abortion rights in their state’s constitution on the ballot. This has made reproductive rights a cornerstone of Nevada’s political landscape.

Asked about his position, Brown said, “I look at it as someone informed by my wife’s experiences.” His wife, Amy Brown, shared her abortion story with NBC News in February.

“I also stand by Nevada’s law allowing abortions up to 24 weeks,” Brown said. “Nevada residents made our law clear 34 years ago. I stand by this law and would not vote for a national abortion ban.”

But Rosen brought up Brown’s past positions on abortion. Brown, who ran for the Texas state legislature in 2014 but lost, supported a 20-week abortion ban when he ran in that race. “He’s been saying for a decade that he’s against abortion exemptions,” Rosen said of Brown’s changing stance.

“If you don’t think he would support a nationwide abortion ban, then I can sell you an oceanfront property on the Las Vegas Strip,” Rosen quipped.