Why is Nevada a bluer state than Arizona?

[Cyrusman]

Similar georgraohic location , and the Vegas metropolitan area is smaller than the Phoenix metro area. Therefore why is Nevada more to the left than Arizona?

[ON Progressive]

Arizona is way whiter and has a larger 65+ population than Nevada.

[YE]

Las Vegas is more Democratic voting than Phoenix.

[RINO Tom]

Las Vegas is more Democratic voting than Phoenix.

This.  Phoenix not being big enough for Democrats to win hasn’t historically been the problem for Democrats; it’s been losing the Phoenix suburbs badly, most often worse than the rest of the state.

[Person Man]

Arizona would be a purplish blue state but for how central the GOP identity is to the communities of Glendale, Mesa, Gilbert, Apache Junction, and Chandler?

[Wisconsin SC Race 2019]

Nevada isn't a retirement destination the same way Arizona is.

[NOVA Green]

Arizona would be a purplish blue state but for how central the GOP identity is to the communities of Glendale, Mesa, Gilbert, Apache Junction, and Chandler?

This is a main part of the reason why I believe Arizona is already moving into Purple State zone in the 2018 GE and quite possible DEM tilt in 2020.

[Neo-Malthusian Misanthrope]

Residual radiation from decaying AuH₂O molecules

[Medal506]

Arizona is right on the border so they tend to be more opposed to illegal immigration than other states.

[IceSpear]

According to Atlas it isn't.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

NV hasn't elected a Democratic governor since the 90's, and Sisolak is a weak candidate. It will vote for Jacky Rosen and elect a Democratic delegation to Congress.

[White Trash]

According to Atlas it isn't.

Yeah Atlas really sucks at analysing the southwest in particular.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Female delegation, Rosen, Titus are spectacular candidates, and so is CCM. However, the male delegation since Harry Reid and Bryant have retired hasn't been spectacular, and Ross Miller and Oscar Goodman were the best candidates for Governor.

[TDAS04]

According to Atlas it isn't.

That's right!  Even Dave Leip's map shows Nevada red and Arizona blue.

[Cyrusman]

NV hasn't elected a Democratic governor since the 90's, and Sisolak is a weak candidate. It will vote for Jacky Rosen and elect a Democratic delegation to Congress.

Why do you think dean heller won’t be re-elected?

[ON Progressive]

NV hasn't elected a Democratic governor since the 90's, and Sisolak is a weak candidate. It will vote for Jacky Rosen and elect a Democratic delegation to Congress.

Why do you think dean heller won’t be re-elected?

I can't say he is DOA, but he is very unlikely to win for these 3 reasons:
a) He's very unpopular (there's multiple polls showing him with worse approval than Trump in NV)
b) Going against a hostile national environment
c) He's in a state that Hillary Clinton won, which is unique among GOP Senate seats up this year

[Florida Man for Crime]

Arizona is 5% African American

Nevada is 9.8% African American.

Nevada has pretty much the biggest African American population share of any state in the West.


So although Nevada's white population percent is somewhat smaller than Arizona's, a big part of the explanation is not just that there are fewer whites and more non-whites, but is that more of the non-whites are Black, as opposed to Hispanic.

African Americans high much higher rates of citizenship and turn out to vote much more than Hispanics do, and they give Democrats much higher vote margins.

[pbrower2a]

Arizona has more agribusiness. The water projects supply much water for subtropical and out-of-season crops. Farmers and ranchers split about 70R-30D in most years and are of far greater significance in Arizona than in Nevada. With the rapid growth of "Vegas", ranching, which used to be a big part of the Nevada economy, is dwarfed into political insignificance. 

[Person Man]

Arizona has more agribusiness. The water projects supply much water for subtropical and out-of-season crops. Farmers and ranchers split about 70R-30D in most years and are of far greater significance in Arizona than in Nevada. With the rapid growth of "Vegas", ranching, which used to be a big part of the Nevada economy, is dwarfed into political insignificance. 

"High Net Worth, Low Income" individuals.

[BaldEagle1991]

It's easy, Nevada has Las Vegas and a more diverse population than Arizona.

[tallguy23]

Minority-majority state and lots of union workers. Also a much younger and socially liberal state.

[5280]

Unionized casino workers...