As part of Las Californias, the area of Nevada belonged to the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas in the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
With the Mexican War of Independence won in 1821, the province of Alta California became a territory—not a state—of Mexico, due to the small population.
Rafael Rivera was the first non-Native American to encounter the modern-day Las Vegas Valley, in 1829,[3][4][5][6] while Antonio Armijo traveled along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, California in 1829.
Unlike present-day California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, Nevada had no Hispanic population when it joined the US.
From 1960, many Cubans fleeing the Castro regime and many East Coast Hispanics, mainly of Puerto Rican origin, have migrated to Nevada.
In 2020, Democratic nominee Joe Biden carried 61% of Latinos in Nevada, according to exit polls by Eddison Research, while Republican Donald Trump won 35%.