Nevada Democrats Unveil ‘Mitch McTurtle’ as Mascot for 2018 Election Season

Nevada Democrats revealed their 2018 election season mascot Tuesday — a giant green turtle by the name of “Mitch McTurtle.”

State party chairman William McCurdy showcased the turtle costume at a campaign function Tuesday afternoon.

Nevada Democratic Party Chmn. William McCurdy introduces the party’s new 2018 mascot, Mitch McTurtle, a stand-in for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. pic.twitter.com/iH0QQh7wOp

— Steve Sebelius (@SteveSebelius) January 16, 2018

The mascot, which consists of a turtle holding a money bag, was created to poke fun at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Nevada Democratic Party plans to use “Mitch McTurtle” at campaign functions to link local Republican candidates as being in lock-step with the Senate Republican leader.

State Democrats are capitalizing on the opportunity to link Republican candidates to McConnell, especially after polls show dramatic decreases in approval ratings for candidates aligned with the Senate Majority Leader.

One August poll showed that McConnell had a 19 percent approval rating — the lowest approval rating of any elected official with a national profile.

Nevada is host to a few competitive races in the 2018 primary and general elections, especially in the race for U.S. Senate.

McConnell-backed Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) is considered to be a vulnerable Republican as he faces a primary challenge from businessman Danny Tarkanian.

The winner of the primary would likely face off against freshman Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who won her seat in the 2016 election by one percentage point and ran for the House at former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s request.

Nevada went blue for Hillary Clinton in 2016; she won the state by 2.4 percentage points over Donald Trump.