For the past four presidential elections, the Democratic candidates’ success in Nevada has been rooted in the party’s ground game in the diverse, union-powered landscape of Clark county. This time around, the Biden campaign’s success was aided by one of the party’s most reliable allies, Culinary Union Local 226. Many of the union’s 60,000 members have been out of work since March. They organized anyway, but with pandemic precautions.

The union, said Culinary 226’s communications director, Bethany Khan, in a press release, “was the first organization in Nevada to conduct safe door-to-door canvassing”. Culinary 226 organizers wore PPE, practiced social distancing, and conducted virtual meetings throughout their organizing efforts.