Nevada’s top election prognosticator, Jon Ralston, predicted Monday that Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris would squeak out in the critical swing state.
Ralston is the CEO and editor of the Nevada Independent and wrote Monday that he believes the Democratic political machine built by the late Sen. Harry Reid will come through.
The Silver State is one of the seven battlegrounds critical for either candidate to take victory in the presidential election on Tuesday night.
Recent polls have shown Harris pulling ahead in an otherwise deadlocked race. But Ralston thinks the vice president has the state and its six Electoral College votes sewn up.
It is a prediction that sent ripples through the final hours of what could be one of the closest elections in history.
More than 78 million Americans have already voted and millions more will head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballot in a race that is seen as a coin toss.
Ralston said the Democrats know which voters – even those who were auto-registered in the state as ‘nonpartisans’ – are ‘closet Democrats’ and will get them to the polls in Nevada.
The Nevada Independent editor Jon Ralston wrote Monday that he believed Vice President Kamala Harris would squeak out a win in the Silver State
‘It will be just enough to overcome the Republican lead – along with women motivated by abortion and crossover votes that issue also will cause,’ he said.
‘I just have a feeling she will catch up here, but I also believe – and please remember this – it will not be clear who won on Election Night here, so block out the nattering nabobs of election denialism,’ Ralston continued.
‘It’s going to be very, very close. Prediction: Harris, 48.5 percent; Trump 48.2 percent; others and None of These Candidates, 3.3 percent,’ he wrote.
On a campaign call Monday, Harris’ campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon predicted a nail-biter in the swing state – one of seven neck-and-neck races that are key to victory for both Harris and Trump – and also set expectations that a winner might not be known on Election Day.
The campaign also predicted that Nevada may be one of the slowest states getting in returns, as voters can still mail in their ballots up until 7 p.m. local time on Election Day.
On Friday, the final day of early voting in Nevada, at an early voting site near Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, DailyMail.com found only voters casting a ballot for former President Donald Trump.
Those trends track with what Ralston said – that the early, in-person vote in Nevada is skewing Republican, while Democrats continue to be more comfortable mailing in their ballots.
Tens of thousands of mail-in ballots are expected to come in on or after Election Day.
Those DailyMail.com spoke to who were voting early skewed male and said they were betting on Trump to improve the economy and better regulate illegal immigration.
Vice President Kamala Harris (right) campaigned in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday with Jennifer Lopez (left)
Former President Donald Trump dances onstage at a campaign rally Monday in Reading, Pennsylvania. Nevada is considered one of seven battleground states in this year’s presidential election
‘I voted for Trump,’ said 60-year-old Oscar Carboni of Las Vegas who works in trade markets. ‘Well, you know, I think, the way it is with presidents, they come and go, and things really don’t matter all that much except for someone I think has to slow down the amount of people coming through the border.’
‘Barring that, the issues are not so big of a deal, I would have voted for either side,’ Carboni added.
Larry Braden, 56, of Las Vegas says he relocated from Southern California since the 2020 election and was excited to vote for Trump in the swing state.
‘Obviously he understands business and national security and economics, such as inflation conditions and how to combat them and make deals and make things work and make things happen,’ Braden, a chief financial officer, told DailyMail.com.
Both candidates have rallied in Nevada in the final stretch of campaign, with both trying to shore up the large Hispanic population.
When America wakes up tomorrow morning, the wait will begin for the results to come in.
J.D. Vance told DailyMail.com on Trump Force Two that he believes a winner could be declared on Tuesday night.
‘My strong guess is that we’re in a good spot, that we’re going to win,’ he told DailyMail.com aboard his jet as flew between campaign stops.
‘I think that we’ll know by Tuesday night. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but you never really know until you know.’
With the race between Trump and Harris still razor-thin, pollsters have indicated that a final result could take days – or even weeks – to tally.
If any of the seven battlegrounds are close, counting mail-in ballots could drag on well into November 6 and beyond. In 2020, the race was officially called for Joe Biden four days later.
And although Trump is only up over Harris by 0.1 percent nationally according to polling averages, he has captured a strong 12-point lead in the betting markets, giving him momentum going into Election Day.
Vance is on a four-state swing as he tries to close out the 2024 race by persuading voters to get out on Election Day.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk