Nevada Republicans Launch Offensive to Flip State Senate

Nevada Senate Republican Leader Dr. Robin Titus is leading an aggressive effort to flip the Democrat-controlled state Senate from blue to red in the November 2026 elections, focusing on three competitive Clark County seats that could deliver the three-seat gain needed for Republican control of the chamber.

The initiative was highlighted this week at a Keystone Corporation event held at Freedom Air in Reno. Titus moderated a candid conversation with the Republican challengers in Senate Districts 8, 9, and 12, emphasizing a pro-business agenda to counter what participants described as years of radical Democratic legislation that has burdened Nevada families and employers.

What a night in Reno! Thank you to everyone who joined us for An Evening with Leader Dr. Robin Titus, moderating a candid conversation with George Harris, Maria Thompson, and Rafael Arroyo – three of the leaders shaping Nevada’s next chapter.

Great questions. Sharper answers.… pic.twitter.com/TK9UWJorr0

— Keystone Corporation (@KeystoneNevada) July 30, 2026

Current Senate makeup stands at 13 Democrats to 8 Republicans. Flipping Districts 8, 9, and 12 would give Republicans the majority.

The GOP challengers and their Democratic opponents are:

• Senate District 8: Republican George Harris, former Clark County Republican Party chair, U.S. Army veteran, and publisher of the conservative magazine Liberty Watch, takes on incumbent Democrat Marilyn Dondero Loop, a retired Clark County educator and longtime legislator. District 8 leans Republican by 2.2 points based on 2024 presidential results. In the 2022 election, Dondero Loop narrowly held the seat 50.7% to 49.3% (26,698 to 25,944 votes), a margin of just 1.4 percentage points and 754 votes.

• Senate District 9: Republican Maria Thompson, a former Las Vegas broadcast journalist and attorney, faces incumbent Democrat Melanie Scheible, a former Clark County deputy district attorney. District 9 leans Democratic by 2.6 points based on 2024 presidential results. In 2022, Scheible won 53.5% to 46.5% (22,823 to 19,875 votes), a 7-point margin of roughly 2,948 votes.

• Senate District 12: Republican Rafael Arroyo, small business owner, challenges incumbent Democrat Julie Pazina. District 12 is nearly even, leaning Democratic by just 0.6 points based on 2024 presidential results. In 2022, Pazina flipped the open seat 52.5% to 47.5% (26,609 to 24,104 votes), a 5-point (4.94%) margin of about 2,505 votes.

Scheible and Dondero Loop voted for criminal justice reform measures, including those raising felony theft thresholds, that critics say contributed to a subsequent spike in crime. Scheible also supported the “Homeless Persons’ Bill of Rights” (SB 142 in the 2023 session). The bill was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. All three Democratic incumbents support allowing biological males to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.

At the Keystone-sponsored gathering titled “An Evening with Leader Dr. Robin Titus,” the candidates and Titus stressed the need for a balanced legislature to secure a stronger, more pro-business Silver State. Democrats have held the majority in the state legislature for a decade. 

Keystone, Nevada’s leading political advocacy group supporting private-sector job creation, low taxation, and responsible regulation, served as title sponsor, with Freedom Air hosting.

Freedom Air founder and CEO Joe Chaulklin, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and his wife relocated their businesses from California due to Democratic policies and regulations that punished employers and their employees.

Chaulklin’s wife moved her manufacturing company from San Jose to Reno, a decision that helped spark the private charter aviation firm. Chaulklin noted that more than 200,000 square feet of hangar space in Northern Nevada has been contracted by people and businesses fleeing California and Washington state wealth taxes.

Republicans at the event pointed to Democratic-backed measures as evidence of overreach. These include the 2021 SB 420 establishing a government-controlled public option health insurance system (currently facing legal challenges over constitutional concerns), last-minute 2025 session resolutions that altered the partisan balance of the powerful Legislative Commission in Democrats’ favor, and other progressive priorities that critics say drive up costs, expand bureaucracy, and deter investment.

Titus, a family physician representing District 17 and Senate Minority Leader since 2024, has positioned her campaign around defending rural values, Second Amendment rights, lower energy costs, and economic growth. Nevada Senate District 17 has a strong Republican advantage of R+40.9, based on the 2024 presidential election results.

With primaries complete, Senate Republicans have called for unity behind the Clark County nominees to take back the chamber. Nevada’s no-income-tax, business-friendly environment has long attracted Californians and others escaping high-tax, high-regulation states.

The Freedom Air example and the contracted hangar space underscore that migration trend, as Nevada Democrats continue policies Republicans argue mirror the very approaches that prompted the exodus.

The November 3 general election will determine whether Titus and the challengers can deliver the flips needed to shift control.