In swing district, it’s door-to-door race to win control of Nevada Senate

By Kyle Roerink

Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Ground zero for the Nevada state Senate looks like an average Las Vegas community. The neighborhoods are gated. The strip malls are ubiquitous. The cars range from mid-size sedan to luxury.

The candidates of Senate District 9 are waging war on doorsteps and in mailboxes at a rate seen in few other races.

Since summer, Democrat Sen. Justin Jones and Republican challenger Becky Harris have been knocking on doors and stuffing mailboxes with what they call “literature.” The candidates and their teams look nothing like trick or treaters and the mailers are far from Jane Austen or Charles Dickens.

The scene is the centerpiece of two campaigns desperately trying to claim a district with a slim Democratic voter registration advantage but where Republican voters are turning out at the polls at a much higher rate this fall. Through Thursday morning, Republicans had cast 43 percent of early votes in the district compared to Democrats' 36 percent.

District 9 starts at the California border and runs north to Kyle Canyon Road and runs along Interstate 15 to the east.

Despite the 3,394 Democratic registration advantage, the district has a history of close races. Jones won by 301 votes in a 2012 special election. Republican Elizabeth Halseth won by more than 3,000 votes in 2010.

Jones estimates his campaign has sent more than 350,000 pieces of mail. Harris, as she has for most of the campaign, declined an interview request through her campaign staff.

Groups supporting their campaigns have also hit the TV airwaves and contributed to the flood of mailbox advertising.

If Jones wins, it’s likely Democrats will hold control of the Senate. If Harris wins, it’s all but certain Republicans will take back the chamber, which the party lost in 2008.

At an early voting booth set up at a Vons on Durango and Warm Springs, Senate District 9 voters expressed dismay at the amount of mail they’ve received -- which typically ends up in the trash.

“I just said to my husband, ‘I will be so glad when this election is over," said Susan Thompson, who receives five pieces of mail daily.

Justin Jones spent Monday evening canvassing in the Mirasol at Mountain’s Edge development. The homes are modern, the yards are manicured. Many have gates with signs that warn of dogs.

The street names resemble flavors of scented candles: Rainy Breeze and Brisk Ocean.

Jones gripped pages of voter registration data. The pages have the names,addresses and party affiliations of registered voters. Some houses he ignored (the Republicans) and others he approached (Democrats who hadn’t voted).

When he knocked on Shelby McCann’s door, Jones asked if she would vote early. She won’t. Election Day is a tradition, she said.

Jones asked if she wanted a postcard-sized pamphlet listing his accomplishments. She declined, saying she gets them on her door every day.

Jones went to another home. A woman gave a deflated greeting. Jones, who re-vists likely voters every three to five days, had knocked on the door before. He asked if she voted early.

“I will this week,” the woman said with an air of promise.

Jones wished the person a good evening and made his way to the next door.

He receives updated voter information daily from the county elections office. At the beginning of the campaign, candidates start with a broad list of constituents that ranges from likely, to maybe to definite no. As Election Day and early voting inch closer, candidates refine their lists.

“We don’t know who they voted for,” he said. “But we know they voted. That way we can take them off our list and stop bugging them.”

The last door Jones knocked on, he ran into some fans.

John and Donna Stuart had yet to vote but vowed they would do so before Election Day on Nov. 4.

They had a Justin Jones yard sign in their front yard.

“We love you,” they told him as he handed them another pamphlet.