Harry Reid	49%
John Ensign	48%

In a state where water resources are scarce, Nevada voters put the quality of their water first. By voting to allow more sewage and toxic pollution to be dumped into Lake Mead and the Truckee River, John Ensign guaranteed his own defeat. By elevating the environment, LCV Action Fund helped Nevadans wade through the heated campaign rhetoric to focus on a real issue that directly affects their lives. In this race, there was a real choice. By defeating Ensign, Nevadans helped guarantee a cleaner future.

Key Polling Results: 

• There is clear evidence of the power of environmental concerns, particularly highlighted by the nuclear waste debate. A near majority, 85 percent, view environmental issues as important, and this issue cuts across partisan lines: Democrats (56 percent), independents (42 percent), and liberal/moderate Republicans (46 percent view the \ environment as very important).

• The issue of nuclear waste was very powerful as the single strongest negative against Ensign (27 percent) and the second most compelling argument for Reid (38 percent). Close behind were concerns about Ensign's efforts to weaken clean water laws (22 percent), particularly as they relate to their drinking water sources-Lake Mead and the Truckee River.
  
• An overwhelming majority of voters recalled seeing ads on Ensign and the environment (74 percent).

Dirty Dozen Campaign Activities: 

Total budget: $356,000. The Nevada Senate race was one of the hottest Senate races in the country which pitted a known anti-environment challenger against a pro-environment incumbent. The Dirty Dozen campaign message was able to cut through the candidates' campaign rhetoric to deliver a serious environmental and quality of life message directly to the voters.

LCV Action Fund ran television ads in both the Las Vegas and Reno media markets from late September through late October, and in Reno, returned to the airwaves on October 27 for a final GOTV push. LCVAF bought 3818 Gross Rating Points on television with 661 ads aired. Separate versions of the ads were produced each market, focusing on Ensign's voters to weaken clean water protections for Lake Mead and the Truckee River. o LCVAF hired four organizers in Nevada-two in Las Vegas and two in Reno. They contacted local media, organized visibility events including honk-and-waves, organizing on the college campus, and door-to-door distribution of information on Ensign's anti-environment voting record. In Reno, a kayak flotilla was organized on the Truckee River to protest Ensign's votes against clean water.

In the end, the margin of victory was 481 votes.