Rosen keeps Nevada Senate seat in Democratic hands

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) is projected to win reelection for a second term in the Nevada Senate race against Republican Sam Brown, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Rosen, a former House member and former synagogue president, won another six-year term in the upper chamber in one of the cycle's key Senate races. She defeated Brown, a retired Army captain and Purple Heart recipient.

Brown ran for Senate last cycle but lost in the GOP primary against former Attorney General Adam Laxalt. Laxalt narrowly lost to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in 2022.

Brown leaned into his military experience as a veteran who suffered third-degree burns after a bomb detonated near him. Brown also previously ran for a Texas state legislature seat in 2014 but lost.

The retired Army captain came under scrutiny during the race over his position on abortion, having once backed Texas’ former 20-week abortion limit when he was then a state legislative candidate.

During his Senate run, Brown said he was not in support of federal restrictions on abortion and would not change Nevada’s current regulations, where abortion access is legal up to 24 weeks. Brown has said on his campaign website that he is “pro-life” and backs exceptions to rape, incest and life of the mother.

Brown also sat down alongside his wife, who had had an abortion, to do an interview with NBC News as a way to blunt the issue.

Additionally, Brown grappled with a GOP primary which turned nasty as fellow Republican Senate candidate and former Iceland Ambassador Jeff Gunter lobbed insults at him, dubbing him at one point “Scam Brown.”

Republicans, meanwhile, sought to attack Rosen on issues like inflation and tie her to national Democrats like President Biden and Vice President Harris. Brown sought to align himself with Trump and backed the same no tax on tips policy the former president proposed, though earlier in his Senate run, he appeared more hesitant to embrace Trump.

Though Senate races tend to be tight in Nevada, public polling ahead of the election had shown Rosen leading the retired Army captain.