Vice president touts legislative victories in Las Vegas, many Nevada politicians absent

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Vice President Kamala Harris praised unions, discussed abortion protections and touted recent legislative victories during her Wednesday trip to Las Vegas.

In her second Nevada appearance since June, Harris landed at Harry Reid International Airport in Air Force Two and went straight to the MGM Grand for the United Steelworkers Union convention.

Addressing the roughly 2,000 union delegates, Harris praised the union for “the work that you do every day to keep our nation running and to move our nation forward.”

Harris' speech was met with a standing ovation three separate times. Her remark, “When unions are strong, America is strong” was the first, followed by comments on protecting pensions and, when discussing the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, making corporations pay their “fair share” in taxes.

Her union speech was followed by a roundtable with Nevada state legislators to discuss abortion protections. Despite it being settled law in the Silver State since 1990, Harris has been meeting with legislators in states across the country since Roe was overturned by the conservative Supreme Court.

Attendees at the roundtable included Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Assemblywoman Selena Torres, amongst others.

“This is, yes, about the women of Nevada, but it's about the women of America,” Vice President Harris said in the roundtable. “And in that way, I want to thank the Nevada legislature for what you've been doing. You all have been fighting on the frontlines to protect women.”

Senate Majority Leader Cannizzaro said the Democrat-controlled legislature would work to expand abortion protections in the state of Nevada during the 2023 legislative session.

The vice president then met with Culinary Union leaders before heading to the pastry kitchen of the MGM Grand where culinary union member pastry chefs create all desserts served in the sprawling Las Vegas casino resort.

Harris brought up questions about the various desserts on display while sampling some of them much to her delight. The final, unannounced segment of her Las Vegas trip served as a way for the vice president to personally connect with the union members she had spent the day publicly supporting.

Harris then left the MGM back to Harry Reid to depart for the Bay Area after a six-hour trip to the Southern Nevada county that could very well decide the control of the Senate in the November midterm elections.

Notably absent from the visit were most of Nevada’s congressional Democrat politicians, including embattled U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Reps. Dina Titus and Susie Lee, and Gov. Steve Sisolak.

Congressman Steven Horsford was the only Nevada congressional politician in attendance, greeting Vice President Harris on the tarmac and spending most of the day with her.

Many Republican statements sent in advance of Vice President Harris’ visit touched upon the trip as a campaign stop for many of the candidates.

In a lengthy 287-word statement, GOP Senate candidate Adam Laxalt said, in part:

“To reward Cortez-Masto for her deciding vote on the massive tax-and-spend, inflation expanding legislation, Kamala Harris left D.C. this week to campaign for Masto in Las Vegas at a private event, funded by lobbyists and interest groups who seek to profit from the Democrats’ complete control of the federal government.”

Joe Lombardo’s campaign similarly wrote, "It's only August, but Steve Sisolak is already bringing out his friend Kamala Harris to help his struggling campaign.”

However, Harris’ team confirmed this was never intended as a campaign stop, but rather a way to connect with union supporters and promote the recent passage of bills such as CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Nonetheless, many Nevada Democrats face a tough reelection campaign, but President Biden’s continued low approval ratings lead some to suggest Democrats nationwide may be distancing themselves from the administration.

In response to why they were absent, the offices of Reps. Dina Titus and Susie Lee simply said they had “a prior scheduling conflict” or “prior engagements.”

In regards to Sisolak, his campaign offered a little more detail.

“Governor Sisolak appreciates the Vice President’s work highlighting Nevada’s men and women of labor and the need to protect reproductive freedom in the Silver State,” said Reeves Oyster with the governor’s campaign. “Due to prior commitments, Chief of Staff Yvanna Cancela represented the Sisolak administration today.”

Cortez Masto’s campaign did not return a request for comment.