EDITORIAL: It’s not all Trump and Clinton

With enthusiasm noticeably lagging among many voters, it’s worth remembering this Election Day that the 2016 campaign is about much more than just the next president.

Voters discouraged over their choices at the top of the ticket may be tempted to sit this one out. Those who do so, however, will relinquish the opportunity to influence a host of other races that will determine control of Congress and, in Nevada, the composition of the state Legislature when lawmakers reconvene in Carson City next year.

For instance, Republicans currently enjoy a 54-46 edge in the U.S. Senate when counting the two “independents” who consistently vote with Democrats. But they’re defending 24 seats this cycle, compared to only 10 across the aisle. The Democrat strategy to retake the upper house includes keeping Sen. Harry Reid’s seat in the blue column, so the Nevada contest featuring GOP Rep. Joe Heck and Sen. Reid’s hand-picked successor, Catherine Cortez Masto, has national implications.

In the U.S. House, it would take a massive shift for Democrats to take the majority. Even though few pundits believe the party is in position to gain the 30 seats necessary to pull it off, this election has been nothing if not unpredictable. Such a road would have to include victories in Nevada’s two competitive House districts, CD4 in which incumbent Rep. Cresent Hardy faces Democrat Ruben Kihuen and CD3 which features the GOP’s Danny Tarkanian running against Jacky Rosen.

Statewide, Tuesday’s balloting will also have major ramifications.

In Carson City, control of the Nevada Senate, in which Republicans have an 11-10 edge, hinges on handful of campaigns. Those include a closely watched contest for an open seat in the Summerlin area featuring GOP Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman against Democrat Nicole Cannizzaro and a tight battle in Henderson between incumbent Democrat Joyce Woodhouse and Republican challenger Carrie Buck.

Meanwhile, the state Assembly is also in play. Republicans in 2014 won a number of seats in traditionally Democratic districts to seize a majority in the lower house, 25-17, for the first time in more than a generation. But demographics and voter registration figures favor the Democrats in their quest to pick up the five seats necessary to again relegate the GOP to minority status. Turnout could be crucial, either way.

There’s more on the ballot Tuesday than a dispiriting choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. But those inclined to stay at home should realize that down-ticket races will also go a long way toward determining the future of the state and the country.