The fight to turn Nevada blue
Vanessa Collins, Progressive Turnout Project District Director in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District (NV-03), is a seasoned political activist. Over the years she’s played the part of canvasser, fundraiser, and recruitment and training director, not to mention regional field director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential campaign. Vanessa has also logged hours working with NARAL, the League of Conservation Voters, and fighting the state senate recall attempts in Nevada.
“I thought Progressive Turnout Project’s approach of addressing the issue of voting rather than supporting a candidate was a change from the norm, and was I interested in a different approach to turning out voters,” Vanessa says.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Vanessa has been living in Nevada since 2001. Though she is currently a resident of Nevada’s 1st Congressional District (NV-01), she lived in NV-03 for a time and is very familiar with the District. 
Vanessa breaks down the races for us.
“Jacky Rosen has given up her seat in NV-03 to run against Senator [Dean] Heller, and although it will be a close race, she is the right person for the job,” Vanessa says. “Susie Lee is looking to replace Rosen and keep NV-03 Blue come November.”
President Barack Obama has endorsed both Rosen for Senate and Lee for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.
For more than two decades, Lee has demonstrated a strong commitment to education, first as Director of the After-School All-Stars and then as President of Communities in Schools (CIS) Nevada. She advocates for making college more affordable and will also fight “to ensure that people can live a middle-class life in this country without a 4-year degree.”
In addition, Lee is a proponent of healthcare for all Americans, and believes the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be amended rather than repealed.
Gun reform is likely to be an important issue for District voters given the mass shooting that occurred in nearby Las Vegas in October 2017. Lee supports common sense gun reform in conjunction with expanding “access to preventative mental health treatment” – a perspective that demonstrates far more nuanced understanding of the issue than her Republican opponent, Danny Tarkanian, who believes the solution is actually more guns.
The genuine compassion driving Lee’s campaign is evident, as is the Democratic candidate’s eagerness to ensure increased opportunity and improved quality of life for working and middle-class voters in the District. The Cook Political Report rates the race for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District as Lean Democratic.
Rosen’s Senate race is somewhat less certain, but there are reasons to remain optimistic. In recent years, Nevada has become increasingly blue: the Silver State went to Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Barack Obama in the two previous Presidential elections. It has also been widely reported that Republican incumbent Dean Heller is the GOP’s “most endangered incumbent,” and that distinction is looking more and more like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just today, FiveThirtyEight Politics released the results of a Harris Interactive Poll from the last week showing Rosen leading Heller by 3% points.
Vanessa and the rest of the Progressive Turnout Team in Nevada will be hard at work over these next few days, doing everything they can to convert positive poll results into wins for both Susie Lee and Jacky Rosen.
“After the election I plan to take some time to focus on my growing family, but this definitely won’t be the last you see or hear from me,” says Vanessa, adding, “I love what I’m doing and I’m in it for the long hall.”
