With 70 days until the election, both presidential candidates are putting more face time in battleground states. Late last week, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made their first visits to Northern Nevada since the February caucus. To get the latest, our reporter Julia Ritchey sat down with the Reno Gazette-Journal's political reporter Seth Richardson.
Donald Trump headlined a private fundraiser last Friday in Stateline, Nev., on Lake Tahoe. Richardson staked out the event, which was closed to press, and heard from those inside that it was a fairly typical speech.
"The only real point that was kind of interesting that I heard come out of there is he took a little bit of a veiled shot at Chief Justice John Roberts for the Obamacare vote," he says.
In attendance were several elected Nevada legislators, including Assembleyman Jim Wheeler and Rep. Mark Amodei, as well as Trump backers like Phil Ruffin, the owner of Treasure Island in Las Vegas.
Richardson said the event itself was unusual because all the proceeds were channeled to the state party. In a recent piece for the Reno Gazette-Journal, Richardson wrote that the fundraiser highlighted the close relationship between Trump and Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald.
"Typically, this late in the campaign, you have what's called a joint fundraiser — and half of it goes to the candidate and half of it goes to the party," he says. "That's not the case here, it all went to the party, which shows that Trump has some love for the Nevada GOP, where other elected officials, generally, don't."
Trump's candidacy has added legitimacy to the state party, which for years has been painted as dysfunctional and to the right of Nevada's more moderate Republicans like Gov. Brian Sandoval or Sen. Dean Heller.
Listen to the full interview (above) for more insights on Trump's relationship to the Nevada GOP and Clinton's chances in the Silver State.
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