Swing state GOP candidate could hit major milestone in mayoral race amid 'Republican wave' optimism
Las Vegas, which sits in battleground Clark County in one of the most closely watched swing states in the upcoming election, is home to a mayoral race where a Republican could win for the first time in half a century.
Democrat Shelley Berkley and Republican Victoria Seaman, the top two vote-getters in the June primary, will square off on Tuesday to determine who will be mayor of Las Vegas, a city that hasn’t had a Republican mayor since Oran Grayson left office in 1975.
Fox News Digital spoke to Councilwoman Seaman about Republican enthusiasm in Nevada and why the climate on the ground is potentially ripe for a conservative to be elected mayor of one of the nation’s most rapidly growing cities.
"I think people are tired of extreme liberal policies that simply don't work, and they want to find common sense solutions," Seaman told Fox News Digital. "And we're seeing an incredible Republican wave right now in Clark County. And I think it speaks for itself that people are tired of policies that simply don't work."
The mayor, who is considered nonpartisan, although the candidates are both affiliated with political parties, is a member of the Las Vegas City Council and is the only member elected at large.
The city of Las Vegas does not include the resort-lined Strip, which is in unincorporated Clark County and falls under the jurisdiction of a county commission.
Rising housing costs has been a top concern of voters both Democrat and Republican in Nevada, which Seaman told Fox News Digital she is committed to addressing if elected mayor.
"Almost 87 percent of southern Nevada is owned by the Bureau of Land Management," Seaman said. "It's really important to be working with our delegation to make sure that we can get some of this land back and annex that into the city for workforce and affordable housing. And those are the things that I've been working on to give incentives to builders. Tax increment financing and all the grants that we've been getting from the state and federal government to make sure that we're working on mixed-use housing. What we've done is we're not leaving anything on the table. We've applied for grants, any grants that we can get."
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Seaman, who was recently joined on the campaign trail by the Republican mayors of Dallas and Newport Beach, California, told Fox News Digital that in addition to housing, the economy is at the top of the minds of voters in Clark County.
"People are struggling and having a hard time, not just with housing, but with putting food on the table," Seaman said. "So they really want to see those who are going to have bold leadership and make sure that they're enacting commonsense policies that work for the people."
Seaman called Berkley an "extreme liberal" who supported "extreme liberal policies" when she was in Congress."
"Open borders, she voted against extra security when she was in Congress, and people are tired," Seaman said. "They want someone who's going to care about the American people and the constituents."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Berkley campaign manager Tom Letizia accused Seaman of trying to turn a "non-partisan race" into a "partisan battle with baseless accusations."
"For nearly two years, Shelley Berkley has been focused on the issues that truly matter to Las Vegas: public safety, homelessness, affordable housing, and working toward a fair solution to the Badlands situation — a costly issue Seaman failed to resolve, now burdening taxpayers with millions of dollars," Letizia said. "Shelley Berkley's record speaks for itself in tackling real challenges without stooping to divisive, lying attacks."
Nevada's early voting has been strong for Republicans, which Seaman said is energy she has seen when she speaks with constituents in the county.
"We're seeing a lot of enthusiasm," Seaman said. "I'm going to leave Las Vegas better than when I found it, and my pledge to the people of Las Vegas is that I want to make it one of the safest cities in the union.
"We have over 42 million tourists coming here every year and so it's important for our economy that we continue to be a very safe city. I also want to make sure that we diversify the economy. We can't depend on gaming alone, and that's something I've been doing in the five years that I've been on the city council, and I will continue to do that to bring more diversified businesses to Las Vegas."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.