LAS VEGAS — Republican candidate Sam Brown spent Thursday’s Senate debate in Nevada taking shots at Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen as he continues to face an election deficit as Election Day approaches.
On three separate occasions, Brown called Rosen an “elitist” and an “insider” as he attempted to cast himself as the outside force bringing the people’s voice to Washington, DC. Rosen, on the other hand, spent the evening largely on her track record and roots. in Nevada, hoping to stay above the fray and widen her lead in the polls.
Brown was so eager to attack Rosen that he even used a question about possible alien life to poke fun at a theme that lingered throughout the debate.
The tension turned early in the debate when the two candidates raised the issue of housing, with rising prices making home ownership less feasible for Nevadans. Rosen proposed holding corporate investors accountable for buying up real estate and pricing people out.
“When you have a housing shortage and these corporate investors come and buy up all the houses and drive up prices to unreasonable rates, it hurts your community,” Rosen said, touting her proposed legislation, called The Home Act. “We are going to fine them.”
Brown said, “It’s interesting that Senator Rosen mentions the desire to fine greedy companies. What if we fine greedy politicians who make things more unaffordable for us?”
Another focus of the debate was immigration, with candidates asked about former President Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportation policy, border security and immigration reform. Nearly 29% of Nevada’s population is Hispanic or Latino, according to 2020 census data.
“Mass deportations, who would get caught in that?” Rosen asked. “How many innocent people would be arrested?
“We need to think carefully about what we do and not use it as a political football,” she continued.
Brown responded, “Once again, this is what you would expect from a DC elitist whose own neighborhood has more security than our border, with gate and guards.
“Our border deserves that too. Our communities deserve that,” he 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 do our independent investigation in the Senate,” said Rosen, who represents Area 51 in the state House.
Brown said: “I’m as curious as anyone. I would like to know what is going on.” He turned hard.
“But when you talk about secrets, these are the kinds of secrets that I think Nevadans deserve to know about, and that’s why Senator Rosen has violated the STOCK Act multiple times,” Brown charged.
While Rosen touted her bona fides as a senator throughout the evening and reminded the audience that she had been a lifelong Nevadan, she took a swipe at Brown when the issue of reproductive rights came up.
Abortion is legal in Nevada until the 24th week of pregnancy. Fearing that such rights could be rolled back in the future, reproductive rights advocates gathered enough signatures this summer to put a measure on the ballot to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. That has made reproductive rights a cornerstone of Nevada’s political landscape.
When asked about his position, Brown said, “I come at this as someone who is aware of my wife’s experiences.” His wife, Amy Brown, shared her abortion story with NBC News in February.
“I also support Nevada’s law allowing abortion up to 24 weeks,” he said. “Nevadans made our law clear 34 years ago. I stand by that law and I would not vote for a national abortion ban.”
But Rosen brought up Brown’s past positions on abortion. Brown, who ran for the Texas Legislature in 2014 but lost, supported a 20-week abortion ban when he ran for office in that race. “He has said for 10 years that he opposes exceptions to abortion,” Rosen said of Brown’s changing position.
“If you don’t believe he would support a nationwide abortion ban, I have an oceanfront property to sell you on the Las Vegas Strip,” she joked.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
