Trump’s Iceland ambassador makes big buy in NV GOP Senate primary

Republican Jeffrey Gunter announced a $3.3 million ad buy Tuesday in his bid to win the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Nevada.

Gunter was ambassador to Iceland during the Trump administration, a post in which he reportedly created an “untenable” employment situation and ruffled Reyjavik officials when he requested permission to carry a gun and be transported in an armored car. 

Gunter, a dermatologist who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and organizations, announced the ad buy Tuesday during an interview on Fox News. “I’m 110% supportive of Donald Trump,” Gunter said, echoing a line from his TV ad.

Gunter told Fox that Trump’s policies as president were “Reaganesque.”

“We have a newfound patriotism with President Trump, and also a newfound common sense. So much of what President Trump says is just plain common sense. And that was really the wisdom that Ronald Reagan imparted to us during the Reagan Revolution,” Gunter said.

Sam Brown, viewed as the frontrunner in the Nevada Senate Republican primary to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen, is being backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign arm of Senate Republicans. Brown has also been endorsed by Gov. Joe Lombardo, and received generous financial support from Incline Village-based billionaire David Duffield.

While the NRSC and Donald Trump have been largely cooperating in their support of Senate primary candidates, Trump has yet to make an endorsement in the Nevada primary. Republican Senate leadership hopes to avoid contested primaries that have bedeviled the party in Senate races across the nation that have produced poor-quality general election candidates.

Democrats meanwhile are cheering for a “messy” Nevada Republican Senate primary. “The Nevada GOP Senate primary is quickly escalating into a chaotic, damaging, and expensive race to the right,” the Nevada State Democratic Party said in a statement responding to Gunter’s ad buy. “As every Republican in the field fights to prove their unwavering allegiance to Donald Trump and his toxic MAGA agenda, these deeply flawed candidates are becoming even more out of step with Nevada voters,” the statement said.

Other candidates in the Republican Senate primary include Jim Marchant, who lost the secretary of state race in 2022, and Tony Grady, who finished second in the 2022 primary for lieutenant governor.