Democratic US Sen. Jacky Rosen is reelected in Nevada, securing battleground seat

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has won reelection, beating Republican Sam Brown in a tight but unusually quiet race for the battleground state.

The first-term senator had campaigned on abortion rights and positioned herself as a nonideological politician, a formula that also worked for the state’s senior senator, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, in her own reelection bid two years ago.

“Thank you, Nevada! I’m honored and grateful to continue serving as your United States Senator,” Rosen said Friday on the social platform X.

Brown, a retired Army captain who moved to Nevada from Texas in 2018 and has never held elected office, unsuccessfully tried to ride President-elect Donald Trump's strong showing in the working-class state. Trump won Nevada on Friday.

The Associated Press left phone and emailed messages seeking comment Friday from Brown's campaign. In a Saturday morning post on X, Brown thanked Nevada.

"Serving as your nominee has been the honor of a lifetime, and though the outcome is not what we hoped, I am deeply moved by the trust, dedication, and hope you’ve shown throughout this journey," Brown said.

Brown had Trump’s support in the Republican primary and won easily, but he was significantly outspent during the campaign, leaving Rosen to dominate the airwaves for months.

Rosen, a former Las Vegas-area synagogue president and computer programmer, ran ads touting herself as an independent who doesn’t listen to “party leaders.”

Analysts note that Nevada has a history of backing no-nonsense senators who deliver funding from Washington.

Rosen also spotlighted her work on expanding broadband internet access and helping to connect Las Vegas with Southern California via light rail.

And she hammered Brown for his opposition to abortion rights, saying he would support a national abortion ban despite Brown’s statements that he respects Nevada voters' choice decades ago to legalize abortions.

A ballot measure this year that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution passed. Voters must again approve it in 2026 in order to amend the constitution.

The Senate contest drew relatively little national interest for most of the campaign, a striking contrast with the presidential race as both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris targeted the state and its six electoral votes. Conservative money flowed in during the final days as the GOP posted a strong showing in early period, but Brown was unable to fully fight back.

Brown, who was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in Afghanistan, was grievously wounded by an improvised explosive device there in 2008 and endured 30 surgeries as he recuperated. In campaign ads, he repeatedly mentioned that his face remains heavily scarred from the attack.

He is also the founder of a medical company that serves veterans.

Brown previously made an unsuccessful bid in 2022 for the Republican nomination to face Cortez Masto.

All four of Nevada's U.S. House incumbents — three Democrats and one Republican — also won reelection this year.

Riccardi reported from Denver.

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., delivers remarks after winning re-election Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., delivers remarks after winning re-election Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., delivers remarks, while her daughter Miranda Rosen, back left, and husband Larry Rosen listen, after winning re-election Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., is applauded by her daughter Miranda Rosen, center, and husband Larry Rosen before delivering remarks after winning re-election Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., delivers remarks after winning re-election Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., poses with supporter Maritza Rodriguez after giving a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Supporters cheer as Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., arrives to give a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, left, D-Nev., gives a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. Listening at left are her daughter Miranda Rosen and husband Larry Rosen. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, left, D-Nev., gives a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., gives a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., gives a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Maritza Rodriguez, center, cheers as Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., arrives to give a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, right, D-Nev., arrives to give a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. Tommy Blitsch, Secretary-Treasurer of the Teamsters Local 631, stands at left. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., gives a victory speech at the Teamsters Local 631 meeting hall Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Republican Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown speaks during an election night watch party Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., reacts to the crowd after speaking to supporters during an election watch party Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge recused himself Tuesday from presiding over Arizona’s fake electors case after an email surfaced in which he told fellow judges to speak out against attacks on Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency.

In the Aug. 29 email, Maricopa County Judge Bruce Cohen lamented that he didn’t speak out when Harris was called a “DEI hire,” believes that white men must speak out against unfair treatment of women, and raised a historical lesson from the Holocaust about the need to speak up when people are attacked. Cohen didn’t specify who made the comment regarding Harris.

“We cannot allow our colleagues who identify as being a ‘person of color’ to stand alone when there are those (who) may claim that their ascension was an ‘equity hire’ rather than based solely upon exceptionalism,” the judge told his colleagues in the email.

Cohen later wrote another email telling his fellow judges that he let his passion cloud his views and apologized to anyone affected by his lapse in judgment in using an email forum for judges that was not appropriate for unsolicited comments.

Lawyers for Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who faces nine felony charges in the case, sought the judge’s removal, arguing Cohen “bears a deep-seated personal political bias that overcame his professional judgment” and that their client has lost confidence in the judge’s impartiality.

Hoffman is one of 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that then-President Donald Trump won Arizona in the 2020 election. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. Two former Trump aides and five lawyers connected to Trump, including Rudy Giuliani, also were charged in the case. All 18 people were charged with charged with forgery, fraud and conspiracy.

“Given the statements the judge made, I think it’s appropriate that he recuse himself,” Arizona attorney Mark L. Williams, who is representing Giuliani, said after Cohen’s decision. “The way I see it, the case against Mr. Giuliani and the other defendants is falling apart and I think the attorney general should just wind down the case and dismiss it.”

A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to comment on the judge’s recusal.

In a court record, Cohen said the original email was a stand for decency and didn’t reflect a personal bias, but he recognized that others may view it differently than he intended.

Cohen, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano in 2005, was scheduled to retire in January.

Most of the defendants had asked Cohen to throw out the charges under an Arizona law that bars using baseless legal actions in a bid to silence critics. The law had long offered protections in civil cases but was amended in 2022 by the Republican-led Legislature to cover people facing most criminal charges.

Cohen recused himself before deciding whether to dismiss the case, which will be assigned to another judge.

The defendants argued that Mayes tried to use the charges to silence them for their constitutionally protected speech about the 2020 election and actions taken in response to the race’s outcome. They say Mayes campaigned on investigating the fake elector case and had shown a bias against Trump and his supporters.

Prosecutors said the defendants didn’t have evidence to back up their retaliation claim and that they had crossed the line from protected speech to fraud. Mayes’ office also has said the grand jury that brought the indictment wanted to consider charging Trump, but prosecutors urged them not to.

Two defendants have already resolved their cases.

Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with Giuliani, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that led to the dismissal of her charges. Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino also became the first person to be convicted in the Arizona case when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation.

The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Trump wasn’t charged in Arizona, but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator.

Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.

Associated Press writer Anita Snow contributed to this report.

Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 28, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix.(Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool)

Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 27, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. (Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic, Pool via AP)

FILE - Arizona Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, left, and his attorney Timothy La Sota appear virtually for Hoffman's arraignment in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, June 6, 2024. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)