Nicole Williams, 45, a mother of seven who works at a casino on the Las Vegas Strip, said the policy “would make a huge difference in a lot of people’s lives.” Speaking after finishing her shift at 11 p.m. Friday night, she said hundreds of dollars were deducted from her monthly pay stubs for “tip compliance,” a figure estimated by the Internal Revenue Service. “We rely on our tips,” said Williams, who makes $20 an hour but can earn up to $250 a night in tips.

“When you have seven kids (to feed), it’s a pretty big deal,” Williams said, explaining that the policy would help ease her grocery and gas bills, which have soared with inflation. “I want to be able to save money, and (currently) I can’t.”

Williams’ husband, a real estate agent, has also felt the economic impact of COVID. More than 350,000 people have moved to the state since 2020, driving up housing prices and pricing residents out of the market.

This influx changed the political fabric of the state. Many recent arrivals registered as nonpartisan or independent voters. Many of them left California, fleeing the high cost of living and harsh COVID-related lockdowns. Although polling data on this group is inconclusive, Policy writes how many of these ex-Californians have a “grinding ax” against their formerly liberal home state, and that they could help push Nevada into the red.

“The Democrats have done the hardest lockdowns, the hardest school closures,” says Williams, who decided to volunteer for the Republican Party after watching the fallout from COVID.

Loading

“Wiz” Rouzard, a 37-year-old African American who canvasses door-to-door in Las Vegas for a Republican-aligned PAC, said the pandemic was also a turning point in his political journey.

The son of Haitian immigrants, Rouzard played football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and voted for Obama in 2008.

Describing himself as “liberty-oriented” as opposed to a “conservative,” Rouzard tells me his belief in small government was cemented by observing how Democrats handled COVID in 2020.

“My wife had to stop her higher education because she was not vaccinated,” says Rouzard. “It was disastrous. I’ll never forget that… They didn’t care about your medical history – they didn’t care about anything.

Law, who has hosted Trump campaign events at Chinese and Mexican restaurants and Black-owned businesses in recent months, said the former president’s embrace of American workers reflects a broader realignment of American politics.

“The Republican Party has changed since I started. At the time, it was the party of George W Bush and it really wasn’t that different from the Democratic Party,” Law said. “They all had plans for bigger government and more war. »

While in the past Republicans “didn’t know how” to reach traditional Democratic constituencies, “that’s completely changed,” said Law, who found himself surrounded by a group of Chinese Americans at the Trump rally in Henderson, Nevada, Friday evening. .

The puzzle for political scientists is whether this phenomenon will persist beyond the wiles of Donald J. Trump. For Williams, the question is irrelevant. “I don’t want taxes on tips. I want to be able to go to the grocery store and buy the products I want for my children,” she said. “I just want relief from the crazy, out of control costs.”

Sarah Smiles Persinger is an editor at the United States Studies Center and a former journalist at The Age. She lived in the United States from 2012 to 2023.