Is Nevada A Purple State?

A trans-woman is running for a state Assembly seat as a Republican and it looks like she might have a chance to win. CBS Las Vegas says,

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada Republican is trying to unseat an incumbent Democratic assemblyman in a blue-collar district in Sparks to become the first openly transgender person to serve in a state legislature.
[…]
She thinks the GOP’s strong showing in early voting could help her pull off an upset against first-term Democrat Mike Sprinkle.

Nevada has a Republican governor and the legislature is controlled by the Democrats (Senate: Democratic (11) Republican (10); Assembly: Democratic (26) Republican (15)) and the Republican party platform seems not to be controlled by the extreme right. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that,

By a show of hands, convention-goers adopted the platform as proposed by a separate committee without the two planks on marriage and abortion, following the Clark County GOP’s lead in removing hot-button social issues from the party’s statement of its principles. Some 520 delegates attended the convention, but less than half were present when the platform was adopted at about 7:30 p.m. Little debate preceded the vote, a far contrast to earlier in day.
[…]
“I think it was about inclusion, not exclusion,” McDonald said, referring to the platform. “This is where the party is going.”

And in to that mix steps Lauren Scott, a former Democrat entered the race for the Assembly District 30 as a Republican. The Salt Lake Tribune wrote that,

Scott ran two years ago but lost the GOP primary to ex-Sparks Police Commander Ken Lightfoot, who then lost to Democrat Mike Sprinkle. She won the June primary with the help of an endorsement from Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who appointed her to the Nevada Equal Rights Commission in 2012.

The hugely popular governor’s backing combined with signs of disinterest in an off-year election among Democrats has Scott pleasantly surprised about her chances on Nov. 4.

"They are kind of seeing through the fog that there is a lot more to Lauren Scott than just a fluffy civil rights advocate," said Scott, 51, who received a Commendation Medal during Operation Desert Storm.

She describes herself as a “1912 Progressive Party-type Republican.”