Why is Carson City, NV so Republican?

[ON Progressive]

It seems strange how the capital city of a state like Nevada can be so solidly Republican, and well to the right of the state in general. While it's not unprecedented for counties/county equivalents containing state capitals to be Republican (such as Oklahoma County, OK and Laramie County, WY), they often still tend to be to the left of the state as a whole.

While Obama did carry it in 2008, he only did so by 1% while Obama carried the state by over a dozen points. The vast majority of elections before and since have had Republicans easily carry Carson City, even if Democrats are carrying Nevada by decent margins.

[Skunk]

Most state capitals that are to the left of the state (like Oklahoma City and Cheyenne) are also the state's largest urban centers, which tend to be more Democratic. Most of Nevada's population is concentrated around Las Vegas, so Carson City isn't as Democratic comparatively.

[Joe Republic]

It's really just a small town, population only 55k.

Also don't forget that the city consolidated with its surrounding county in 1969 (similar to Jacksonville, but way smaller scale), meaning that the city proper still includes the outlying rural areas.  That's not to say that the downtown areas aren't still Republican; Hillary only won a single precinct in the whole city, but the margins across the urban area weren't exactly huge.