A Powerful Ally

Nevada's influential Culinary Union is fighting to keep the Silver State blue

- ADRIAN CARRASQUILLO

WHILE THE UNOFFICIAL SLOGAN OF SIN CITY "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"-seems set for all time, change is otherwise a constant in Nevada. That applies as much to politics as it does to the transient residents who flood through the state in search of work in the gaming and hospitality industries.

Right now, as the country heads into the general election season, Republicans see an opening to wrest control of the battleground state from Democrats for the first time since 2014, making Nevada an important indicator not only for this year's midterms, but also for America's 2024 presidential vote. Nevada has backed the White House winner in 10 of the last 11 elections.

GOP hopes of winning the state's governorship and its open U.S. Senate seat have been lifted by President Joe Biden's languishing poll ratings and signs of a tumble in support from Latinos-who account for nearly a third of Nevadans as well as by sharply higher inflation cutting into the budgets of households across America.

But Nevada's Democrats have an ally that few counterparts elsewhere in the U.S. can boast: the powerful and influential Culinary Union, which represents some 60,000 workers in the hotel and casino industries in Las Vegas and Reno. It is bouncing back after its members were hit hard by illness and layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic and its leadership is determined to keep Nevada blue no matter how hard rising consumer prices are hurting.

"Inflation is key, it's on everybody's lips, but Republicans have no credibility on that [issue]," Ted Pappageorge, the Culinary Union secretary-treasurer, tells Newsweek.