A waitress, a mechanic and a Nascar driver running for US Congress

Not many candidates running in this election cycle have a life story quite as compelling as Sam Brown, the Republican Party’s Senate nominee in Nevada.

By his own admission, the former US army captain should not even be alive today.

In 2008, four months into a deployment in Kandahar, Afghanistan, a roadside bomb detonated under his vehicle, and set him ablaze. By the time the fire was extinguished, nearly a third of his body, including his face, was severely burnt.

The West Point military academy graduate was forced into medical retirement and spent the next three years undergoing intensive physical rehabilitation.

He went on to marry his burn unit dietitian, with whom he now has three children, completed an MBA programme and launched a small business that provided critical medical care to other veterans.

With this record, many expected that Brown, 41, would pose a stiff challenge to Nevada’s Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen in her bid for re-election. But Brown is lagging far behind and polls suggest Rosen may coast to victory.

Abortion access has factored heavily into the race, as Rosen and her allies have hit the airwaves to warn that Brown will be one more vote in favour of potential abortion restrictions.

More importantly, while Brown has the backing of mainstream Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, his support from the party’s ever-ascendant Trump wing is much softer. Trump himself long delayed endorsing Brown and many of his staunchest supporters campaigned for other candidates in the Republican primary.