Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen has narrowly defended her Senate seat following a tough reelection battle against Republican Army veteran Sam Brown, The Associated Press projects.
Rosen’s win over Brown was declared by the AP early on Saturday, Nov. 9, with the democratic candidate having secured 47.8% of the vote at the time of the call. Brown had 46.4%.
Her victory marks a crucial win for Senate Democrats, who suffered major losses in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia this year and will now have the minority in the 119th Congress.
Heading into Election Day, the Democratic Party narrowly controlled the Senate by a 51-49 margin.
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Rosen, 67, was elected to the U.S. House in 2016 and the U.S. Senate in 2018. She is a first-generation college student, former computer programmer and previously served as president of Nevada’s largest synagogue, according to her campaign website.
Rosen became the second woman to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first former synagogue president to serve in the Senate when she was elected. During her tenure, she has been recognized as “one of the most bipartisan Senators in the chamber,” per an independent ranking on her campaign site.
Rosen has lived in Nevada for more than 40 years and shares a daughter with her husband, Larry.
Her opponent, Brown, hit the ticket with a leaner political resume, following unsuccessful pursuits at the primaries for seats in the Texas House of Representatives in 2014 and U.S. Senate in 2021.
However, the Purple Heart recipient came in with what The New York Times described as an “extraordinary story.” Brown was a West Point graduate and Army Infantry Officer deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 who nearly died when a roadside bomb detonated beneath his vehicle, injuring him and beginning what would become a three-year journey of intense rehabilitation. He medically retired from the military as a Captain in 2011.
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During his recovery, Brown married U.S. Army First Lieutenant Amy Larsen, his Burn Unit Dietitian, and the couple welcomed three children together.
“Knowing that his career in the military had come to an end, Sam understood that if he was going to rededicate his life to service, he would have to take a different path,” his campaign website said. He pivoted to studying business, launched a company providing emergency pharmaceutical support to veterans outside the VA and sold it in 2022.
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According to The Nevada Independent, Brown is an Arkansas native who had lived in Texas since 2008 before moving to Nevada with his family in 2018. He was endorsed by Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in June.
