The U.S. Senate race in Nevada, featuring Democrat incumbent Jacky Rosen and Republican challenger Sam Brown, is one of the country's most closely watched Senate races. It follows closely watched contests in Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia, where Democratic incumbent seats are threatened by strong Republican candidates.

Campaign ads are dominating the airwaves and online.

To read about Senator Rosen's misleading attack ad against Sam Brown see below. 

The attack ad " Essentials," produced by One Nation, asserts that Senator Jacky Rosen's support for President Joe Biden's record pandemic-era spending packages—including the Inflation Reduction Act—has raised prices for essential products and services and given tax dollars to undocumented immigrants.

The narrator begins with, "Wasteful Washington spending is driving inflation, and many Nevadans are finding it hard to afford essentials, such as groceries, housing, and gas. Senator Jacky Rosen backed Biden's boondoggle spending."

MISLEADING: Senator Rosen did vote for President Biden's record spending packages, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. However, economists have debated whether these spending packages have been the main driving force behind higher costs for essential goods and services.

Additionally, these spending packages directly helped businesses and organizations in Nevada.

The narrator continues by saying Rosen's yes on the American Rescue Plan Act: "let illegal immigrants take your tax dollars, allowing COVID checks for illegals."

MOSTLY FALSE: It has been widely circulated that federal COVID relief checks only went to individuals with a valid social security number who were legally working in the U.S., Using the same system that was put in place under former President Donald Trump. This was a requirement in the law.

The vast majority of undocumented immigrants do not have social security numbers and did not receive these checks.

The narrator continues, "Rosen even voted to raise taxes on Nevada families earning less than $75,000 a year to pay for more wasteful spending."

FALSE: The ad cites Rosen's yes vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which did not include any tax increases for individuals.

Any indirect impacts due to tax policy changes in the IRA would only be felt by the largest corporations and the wealthiest individuals and would not impact anyone making less than $400,000 annually.

Multiple agencies have fact-checked these claims as false:

PolitiFact reported that the Inflation Reduction Act targeted tax increases at very large corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Although the law could indirectly lead to higher taxes for taxpayers with more modest incomes, independent analyses have found that ordinary Americans are unlikely to see significant changes in what they pay in taxes. Therefore, PolitiFact rated the statement "The Inflation Reduction Act led to higher taxes" as Mostly False. [Politifact, 10/19/23]

USA Today fact-checked a claim about the IRA potentially raising taxes on individuals earning $30,000 or more. They confirmed that there would be no individual tax rate increase under the act. The claim was rated as "False" by USA Today. The legislation, known as H.R. 5376, does not raise individual tax rates, as confirmed by a Treasury Department official and Gleckman.[USA Today, 10/24/22]

Factcheck.Org: “Most People Living

In The U.S. Illegally … Would Be Ineligible For The Stimulus Checks.”

To receive the one-time payments, individuals must meet income requirements and provide a Social Security number to the IRS. Nonresident alien individuals are not eligible for the payments. Most people living in the U.S. illegally do not have Social Security numbers and would be ineligible for the stimulus checks.   [10/19/23]

Newsweek Fact Check: “Illegal Immigrants Would Not Be Eligible To Receive A Check If They Do Not Have A Social Security Number.” “Illegal immigrants would not be eligible to receive a check if they do not have a Social Security number.” [Newsweek, 2/11/24]