He came out of nowhere, a never-elected Nevada newcomer and former Army infantry officer horribly wounded in Afghanistan, running a no-name campaign in the Republican primary for U.S. Senator against a political veteran with a polished resume and a well-known family name.
But as his grassroots ‘Duty First’ campaign traveled the dusty backwaters of the state, Sam Brown—or, as he became widely known, Capt. Sam Brown—gained traction, drew donors, and earned the Nevada Republican Party Committee’s endorsement in his June 2022 GOP primary against the heavily-favored Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general.
In the end, Mr. Brown garnered nearly 34 percent of the primary vote, falling by more than 20 percentage points to Laxalt, who would go on to lose narrowly to incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) the following November….