After a campaign stop on Tuesday in the final days of the 2024 cycle, Republican Sam Brown told reporters that he would not support a national abortion ban if Nevadans elected him to unseat Sen. Jacky Rosen. 

Just moments earlier, Brown had been standing next to Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, a Republican leader who came to shore up support for Brown in the hotly contested battleground, and who, coincidentally, had sponsored a national abortion ban that would outlaw the procedure after 15 weeks, and who founded the Senate Pro-Life Caucus. 

In what was expected to be one the closest races of the cycle — but hasn’t proved to be so — the Democratic incumbent has sought to overtake her Republican challenger by hammering on his current and past statements on abortion. Rosen argues that despite promises like the ones he made on Tuesday, Brown’s record of support for abortion restrictions and lack of support for the state’s abortion rights ballot measure suggest he can’t be trusted. 

That’s the closing message Rosen is delivering to voters with two broadcast ads that will air in Las Vegas and Reno as the race comes to a close.

“He’s lying about his position on abortion, but we know the truth,” says one ad, titled, “Decade,” which cites 2014 comments by Brown supporting a 20-week abortion ban in Texas and saying that, “on issues of life, that is a nonnegotiable for me.” A spokeswoman for Rosen said the ad is part of a multimillion-dollar effort to “hold Brown accountable” for his record on the issue. 

Rosen’s lead has been shaped by a number of factors, including a well-funded early start and greater name recognition against a Republican who has never held elected office and moved to the state six years ago. 

But the saliency of the issue in Nevada illustrates how the specter of abortion restrictions carries weight even in a state where the law protects reproductive freedom. Nevada’s Senate race also raises questions about how voters perceive Republicans’ changing, and sometimes conflicting stances, on the issue since the overturn of Roe v. Wade — especially if they’re not Donald Trump. 

Going back to February, Brown has said he would not support a national abortion ban, but has said he is “pro life, with exceptions for the tragic cases of rape, incest and situations where the mother’s life is at risk.” 

Brown’s rejection of a national ban was tied to an NBC interview in February in which his wife, Amy, revealed that she had an abortion when she became unexpectedly pregnant at 24 and was on the verge of starting a new job. 

Brown said women making such decisions may be facing “one of the most challenging things” in a woman’s life.  

He said he is “not in a position to — nor do I want to,” change the state’s law protecting access to abortion up to fetal viability. 

Notably, Brown has tried to stay away from a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in Nevada’s constitution, which is currently also before voters. In a recording obtained by The Nevada Independent last month, Brown is heard saying that he “is not for changing our existing law,” indicating that he doesn’t support the ballot measure.

Question 6 would guarantee the right to abortion in the state’s constitution up to fetal viability, usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The measure offers essentially the same abortion rights protections that Nevada law currently provides, but advocates say that enshrining this language in the constitution would make it harder for abortion rights to be overturned. Supporters also argue that it would boost protections for doctors who perform abortions. 

Nevada voters would need to approve the ballot measure this cycle and again in 2026 for the constitution to be amended. If abortion rights opponents wanted to change the law to erase those rights, they’d have to follow the same path. 

Rosen plunged into the 2024 cycle as one of a handful of Senate Democrats facing a tough battle to defend the party’s razor-thin majority — or at least curb Republicans’ edge in the upper chamber of Congress. 

During the 2022 midterms, control of the Senate came down to Nevada, where Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto defeated her Republican challenger by roughly 8,000 votes. President Joe Biden won the state by more than two points in 2020.

Just two years later, Rosen is heading into Election Day with polls showing her consistently ahead by comfortable margins, even in a state where former President Donald Trump is putting up formidable numbers against Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Brown, a former Army captain who was severely injured by an explosion while serving in Afghanistan, has argued Democrats like Rosen are to blame for increases in the cost of living and housing, and has said he supports securing the border and deporting “criminals.” 

Brown has aligned himself closely with Trump, appearing alongside him at rallies the former president has held in Nevada, and saying that if Trump wins, Brown will be an “ally” to him in the Senate.

Rosen, meanwhile, has promised to champion affordability issues in Congress, especially health care, and has said she would support federal abortion rights. Rosen has been careful to cast herself as an independent voice whose power in Congress comes from working across the aisle. She skipped the Democratic National Convention over the summer, a boisterous event where Democrats celebrated the momentum Harris would bring to Democrats up and down the ballot. Though polls showed her ahead of Brown at the time, the senator decided to stay home to campaign instead.

Brown is trailing Trump in the critical battleground, a similar pattern playing out in competitive Senate races across the country, including in bordering Arizona. This is driven in part by lower name recognition, but also suggests Trump’s popularity is singular and not a boon for fellow Republicans. 

Even so, Democrats face an uphill battle to keep their 51-seat Senate majority — defending 23 seats with few pick up opportunities.

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