Harry Reid, the Real Machine, and the Pretenders Who Claim His Crown
By Frank Underhill
As Nevada awaits Jon Ralston’s highly anticipated biography of Harry Reid, it’s worth taking a clear eyed look at the legacy Reid left behind, and at how far the current stewards of Nevada’s Democratic Party have drifted from the standards he set. No figure in modern Nevada history shaped this state more than Reid. His story is foundational, and the contrast with what followed is impossible to ignore.
Long before he became Senate Majority Leader, Reid was a young man challenging the power structures inside his own party. He took on Democratic county bosses, party chairs, casino aligned insiders, and political intermediaries who believed they controlled Nevada politics. Reid didn’t just refuse to play their game, he challenged the premise of their power. He confronted corruption, exposed insider dealing, and created space for reform at a time when reform was neither fashionable nor welcomed. His early battles were not against Republicans, they were against the Democratic establishment that expected him to fall in line. He never did.
This instinct to challenge, to confront, to force accountability defined his rise. Reid came to understand that power was only meaningful if it accomplished something for ordinary people. That belief shaped everything that followed. His leadership elevated Barack Obama when many national Democrats doubted him. He held together a fractious Senate caucus long enough to pass the Affordable Care Act, financial reforms, economic recovery measures, and a generation’s worth of judicial appointments. In the process, he became not just a national figure, but the most powerful Nevadan in state history.
The so called “Reid Machine” wasn’t a brand or a network. It was a culture of discipline, hard work, strategic thought, and coalition building rooted in real communities. It reflected Reid’s values, his toughness, his clarity, and above all his commitment to Nevada. The machine functioned because Reid himself demanded excellence and accountability at every level.
But after Reid’s passing, something changed. Into the vacuum stepped a small circle of consultants, lobbyists, and operatives who began positioning themselves as the heirs to his legacy. They adopted his name without adopting his principles. They spoke about the “Reid Machine” as if it were a transferable asset rather than something earned through decades of work. What they inherited was the aura of Reid, not his integrity or capability. And the results are visible everywhere.
Nevada’s Democratic infrastructure is collapsing in ways that would have been unthinkable during Reid’s lifetime. For the first time since 2007, Republicans now outnumber Democrats in voter registration statewide, a landmark shift that should have triggered alarm and mobilization but instead has been met with indifference. Clark County, once the cornerstone of Democratic victory, has seen its firewall eroded as Republican gains accelerate across the Valley. Legislative seats that should have remained safely Democratic have been lost. Senator Dallas Harris’s seat flipped. Assemblywoman Michelle Gorelow’s seat flipped. A Republican won a Clark County Commission seat for the first time in more than a decade.
The most competitive state senate race offered yet another warning sign that the party’s judgment is failing. Democrats lost again to Carrie Buck, even after enormous sums of dark money were spent in the Democratic primary to tear down a young, diverse, dynamic, and deeply impressive candidate who appeared to be exactly the kind of leader Democratic voters are hungry for. Instead of supporting new talent and broadening the bench, the party establishment chose to kneecap one of the most promising candidates in the state. The result was predictable: division, apathy, and a weakened nominee who was in no position to defeat Buck in November. Reid built a machine that elevated new leaders. Today’s establishment actively destroys them.
The failures extend well beyond the Legislature. In Henderson, Nevada’s second largest city, not a single member of the City Council is a Democrat. Zero. An entire major city with a population of more than 300,000 now has no Democratic representation at the municipal level. And looking ahead to 2026, the only Henderson ward with more registered Democrats than Republicans has no Democratic candidate at all, while two competitive Republicans have been fundraising for months. This is what it looks like when a party forfeits the basics of political infrastructure.
Down ballot losses have become alarmingly routine. While other states invested in local defenses against extremist movements, Nevada Democrats allowed Moms for Liberty to win here, one of the only states in the country where the group posted significant victories. These are failures of strategy, investment, and awareness.
At the same time, public trust in the Democratic Party has hit historic lows. Recent statewide polling shows confidence among Democratic voters in the integrity of elections falling by nearly 30 points since before the 2024 election. That collapse of trust doesn’t happen on its own. It happens when the party becomes disconnected from the communities it claims to represent.
And disconnected is exactly what it is. The state party today is closer than ever to the consultant and lobbyist class and further than ever from voters. Decision making is driven by insular circles, not community leaders or grassroots organizers. The party is preparing to back a gubernatorial candidate with no viable path to defeating Governor Lombardo, a choice rooted more in insider comfort than electoral reality. Meanwhile, the state party chair, at the precise moment when crisis management is urgently needed, is distracted running for another office against a fellow Democrat. It is a portrait of a political organization that has lost its sense of purpose.
The consequences reached a breaking point when Nevada delivered Donald Trump a historic rout in 2024, something that would have been incomprehensible under Reid’s watch. The coalition Reid built didn’t simply weaken. It collapsed. And it did so while the people claiming his mantle were busy congratulating themselves for holding the keys to a machine they never built and do not know how to operate.
It is impossible to imagine Reid tolerating any of this. He would have recognized the registration shift immediately, poured resources into down ballot races, rebuilt trust with working class and union voters, and reminded party insiders that power is earned through service, not self interest. He would have insisted on competence. He would have demanded results. And he would have driven out anyone who mistook proximity to power for the ability to wield it.
Reid’s real legacy is not the group that now uses his name. His legacy is a philosophy: confront corruption; invest in people; build coalitions that outlast election cycles; use power to achieve real outcomes; and never forget who you serve. Nevada Democrats now face a choice, either reclaim that legacy or allow a shrinking circle of insiders to continue diminishing it.
As Ralston’s biography prepares to reintroduce the real Harry Reid to the world, the timing is fitting. Nevada Democrats don’t just need to remember who Reid was. They need to remember what he demanded, what he built, and what he expected from those who acted in his name. Reid’s legacy deserves stewards, not opportunists. Nevada deserves a movement grounded in his values, not merely his memory.
