TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Katharine Kurz, Senior Communications Advisor for the Nevada State Democratic Party 

DATE: May 10, 2024

SUBJECT: One Month Out From Messy GOP Primary, Sam Brown Double Down on MAGA Agenda 

There’s one month to go until the messy MAGA Nevada Senate primary comes to an end, leaving whoever emerges damaged and even further out of step with Nevada voters after months of racing to the far-right.

Just last week, Mitch McConnell admitted that his handpicked candidate in Nevada, Sam Brown, was facing a “tough primary.” Brown has been working overtime to tout his extreme MAGA values and make clear that he will always put pleasing Donald Trump and passing his extreme agenda ahead of what’s best for Nevadans. 

AMID GOP LEADERS’ CONCERNS OVER THE PRIMARY, BROWN IS TOUTING CONSERVATIVE BONAFIDES

With Mitch McConnell warning that his anointed candidate is facing an unexpectedly “tough primary,” Brown has been forced to spend resources on the primary election to double down on his MAGA record. 

• Brown broke his promise earlier this year to “not tear down other Republicans” by going directly after Jeff Gunter during a private fundraising event in April “after Mr. Gunter accused him in ads and appearances of being disingenuous and not sufficiently pro-Trump.” 

• Both Brown’s campaign and his super PAC have had to spend money on TV ads touting his conservative bonafides, including his support for “finish[ing] President Trump’s wall.” 

• Brown embarked on a far-right media tour, frequenting OAN, Fox News, Newsmax, and conservative talk radio to tout  his MAGA credentials:

• Bragged during a Fox News interview, that he is  “extremely conservative”

• Claimed Trump’s “leadership is what has driven [Brown] to try and join [Trump] in D.C.” – and touted that he  was an “active volunteer” for Trump’s past campaigns.  

DONALD TRUMP LOOMS OVER PRIMARY

Brown now constantly touting his MAGA credentials is a far cry from six months ago when he refused to even mention Trump’s name, declined to endorse the disgraced former president and tried to hide his MAGA extremism. 

Now the fight to secure Trump’s endorsement is on: 

• Brown praised Trump’s leadership and claimed Trump was the reason he’s running for Senate. 

• Reporting from CNN revealed that Brown flew to Mar-A-Lago to beg for Trump’s endorsement directly in the “increasingly nasty” primary. 

• Sam Brown’s personal super PAC redid their website, highlighting Brown as an “America First Patriot”  and claiming he would finish Trump’s Border Wall and restore Trump’s agenda. 

• Meanwhile, Gunter is touting his “110%” support for Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda.

BROWN’S EXTREME MAGA POLICY POSITIONS ARE TOXIC TO NEVADA VOTERS 

The GOP primary has only made it more clear that Sam Brown will always put pleasing Donald Trump and pushing his MAGA agenda over what’s best for Nevadans. Brown’s extreme stances that put him directly out of step with the Silver State include:

• Having a decade long anti-abortion record that includes supporting abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest, pushing to overturn Roe v. Wade, serving as the local president of an extreme anti-abortion group, and saying his anti-abortion position is “non-negotiable;”

• Strongly supporting restarting Yucca Mountain and turning Nevada into the dumping ground for the nation’s nuclear waste;

• Downplaying the deadly January 6 insurrection and continuing to support the dangerous election conspiracy theories that led to it;

• Praising an extreme plan that would phase out Social Security and Medicare in five years, calling it a “roadmap for a better America;” 

• Starting a shady PAC accused of swindling grassroots Republican donors in order to pay off debt from his last failed campaign for Nevada Senate — “a move one campaign finance expert likened to using the PAC as a ‘slush fund.’” 

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