Almost 75,000 Nevada Democrats took part in a new early voting process in the Battle Born State’s 2020 presidential caucus before the debate Wednesday night.

The in-person caucuses are Saturday, and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other state Democrats see an opportunity to overtake Iowa and New Hampshire as the first contests in the nation in 2024.

CQ Roll Call traveled to Nevada for events throughout the early caucus period, from union halls to college campuses and an East Las Vegas supermarket.

And we didn’t just stay in and around Las Vegas. For the second Nevada caucus in a row, our travels brought us to Pahrump, an unincorporated town in rural western Nevada on the road to Death Valley, perhaps best known for the Sheri’s Ranch brothel.

It was at a get-out-to-caucus canvass for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Pahrump that Political Theater had a chance to catch up with Julián Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development secretary during the Obama administration.

The Warren campaign has dispatched Castro, a former presidential candidate and now perhaps her top surrogate, to some of the most rural parts of Nevada on the hunt for delegates. He spoke with us about the state’s diversity.

As a bonus, we heard from billionaire businessman and presidential candidate Tom Steyer about why he rented taco and cookie trucks to feed hungry early voters.

Show Notes:

• Sharp tone matched high stakes in Nevada Democratic debate
• Powerful labor union questions impact of Medicare for All
• In Nevada, presidential campaigns seek second-choice voters
• Silver State lining in Iowa debacle? Nevada Democrats want to be first next time
• Joe Biden’s lonely burden
• Infrastructure week hits the presidential campaign trail
• He’s so populist: Trump, Sanders and beyond
• The Democratic divide is not just between moderates and progressives
• Harry Reid in winter: Still grappling, and dabbling, in politics
• 2016 presidential candidates avoid Nevada brothel debate