Louise Wijesinghe of Las Vegas voted at the Whitney Recreation Center on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
As they walked from the polling station at the Whitney Recreation Center on Missouri Avenue, William Barton and his daughter, a first-time voter, were at odds.
Instead of cutthroat political rhetoric, however, their conversation was more of a good-natured bantering.
“I can’t believe she voted for Sisolak,” Barton said of his 19-year-old daughter’s support of Gov. Steve Sisolak.
“I didn’t vote for him. I have common sense," said Barton, a supporter of GOP challenger Joe Lombardo. “I think she might have done that just to spite me.”
“You’re so funny, dad,” daughter Alora Barton said as the two embraced.
For Alora Barton, a Starbucks employee, Tuesday was the first time she voted in an election.
When they arrived late Tuesday morning, the Bartons were among a couple dozen people lined up outside the polling place waiting to vote.
“It was easy,” Alora Barton said. “The line wasn’t bad. It wasn’t a long wait.”
Later, at the same polling place, Louise Wijesinghe of Las Vegas said she was enthusiastic to vote for Democratic candidates.
“I don’t want another Trump in office,” Wijesinghe said. “I don’t even want anyone who’s affiliated with him. I don’t think he did our country any good. When you’re poor, you’re poor. When you’re working class, you’re working class, and (Trump) didn’t do any good for any of those people.”
Wijesinghe said she has noticed an excitement among Democratic voters and thinks they “will come out this time, just like they did two years ago.”
At the Nevada State AFL-CIO headquarters in Henderson, about 30 canvassers and other union workers gathered Tuesday morning to hear some encouraging words from Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen.
Rosen isn’t on the ballot, but her U.S. Senate colleague, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, is facing a challenge from Republican Adam Laxalt, the former Nevada attorney general.
After offering her best locker room pep talk to the canvassers — many were set to continue knocking on doors throughout the day Tuesday — Rosen expressed optimism for Democrats up and down the ticket in Nevada.
“I feel pretty good,” Rosen said. “I think we’re going to be all right. We’ve done the hard work to turn out the vote and the choice is clear. With our candidates like Catherine Cortez Masto and Gov. Sisolak, the choice is kindness and empathy and worrying about our state every day. The other choice is a slate of extremists.”
Nevada State AFL-CIO canvassers only go to homes of union members and their families, Executive Secretary-Treasurer Susie Martinez said.
Organizers with Las Vegas’ Culinary Union — another Democrat-supporting organization — had a goal of knocking on over 1 million doors leading up to the election.
One of the canvassers for the Nevada State AFL-CIO is Erin Lovitt, who grew up in Henderson and now lives in Arizona.
She started knocking on doors in Southern Nevada in August.
“I’ve probably knocked on over 5,000 doors,” Lovitt said. “I got yelled at once by a Republican who told me to get off his porch. I remember one lady yelling out to me, ‘You vote, you win,’ as I was leaving. She was in her 80s, so that type of enthusiasm made me feel good. I feel positive about the Democrats and our process.”
Rosen said the canvassers deserve praise for their work.
“We’re a union-strong state,” Rosen said. “Unions built Las Vegas. People here, they know what this all means to their families. It matters, and that’s why they’re out there.”