Report #5 - The Votes So Far

Beth and I and friends and a great many volunteers have been working feverishly in Las Vegas to identify John Kerry supporters and then get them to vote. Early voting ended at 9:00 PM on Friday October 29. The results are encouraging.

John Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun reports that "an astounding 35,403 people voted early Friday in Clark County, bringing the total to 271,465. Add in the absentees (44,512) and the total number of those who voted in Southern Nevada before Tuesday is 315,977.

That is about 46 percent of registered voters in Clark County and probably more than 60 percent of the total Clark County turnout for this election. The partisan breakdown shows the Democrats with a nearly 14,000-voter lead here and a 44.6 percent to 40.1 percent lead."

But what about conservative Washoe County (Reno) you ask? Good question.

"Final early voting numbers from Washoe shows Democrats essentially tied the Republicans in this heavily GOP county, which could bode well for the presidential race:

Total: 33,025
Democrats--13,974
Republicans--13,992
Others--5,059"

That's right, the Republicans eeked out an 18 vote advantage. Independents in Nevada and elsewhere are expected to break for the challenger Kerry.

Then for good measure both the Las Vegas Sun and the Reno Gazette Journal endorsed Kerry for President.

In 2000, Bush won Nevada by 21,597 votes. This year it will come down to who does a better job actually getting their supporters to vote.