Maybe it’s a case of, be careful what you wish for?
A year ago, we all saw Governor Brian Sandoval on election night cheering at the results: Republicans took both houses of the state Legislature. And they won all the constitutional seats – governor’s office, Treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general.
It seemed like the dawn of something for the Republican Party in Nevada, especially for the Republican governor.
Governor Sandoval – and just about everyone watching – thought he and they were on Easy Street.
They had no idea that with Democrats mostly out of the way, their biggest enemy might just be themselves.
Soon after he was sworn into office in January, Laxalt joined a lawsuit to stop President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration. The stance was in opposition to Gov. Sandoval's opinion on the order.
The most recent issue erupted last week between the governor and Attorney General Adam Laxalt.
Laxalt has joined some of Nevada's rural counties in a lawsuit regarding the sage grouse.
The lawsuit hopes to block the new land-use rules even though those rules helped prevent the chicken-like bird from being put on the endangered species list, which many people agreed would have caused a lot more trouble.
Political columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal Steve Sebelius said keeping the bird off the endangered list was seen as a victory for everyone.
"This was great," he said. "Everybody was happy about that, Democrats, Republicans, mining interests, ranchers, the governor, all of the states' congressional delegation."
The rural counties, and now Laxalt representing the state of Nevada, say those land-use rules are too restrictive.
Sebelius said whether Laxalt can be part of the lawsuit depends on who you ask.
"Like many things in Nevada law, it is very, very convoluted," he said.
Gov. Sandoval said Laxalt needs his consent to be part of the lawsuit, while Laxalt said he can go ahead without the governor's approval.
"It really is a mess," Sebelius explained. "These two guys are really at odds on this one and it is a significant thing because after the lawsuit on immigration, they agreed that they were going to work a lot more closely together."
Sebelius believes Laxalt joined the suit for "personal reasons," including fulfilling campaign promises that he would sue the federal government, if he needed to, to protect Nevada's interests.
The columnist said that Laxalt was able to ride the Red Wave into office and plans to use it to advance his ambitions.
"Now that he's got that success and he's established that beach head, he's going to make everything to use it to his advantage to lay the groundwork to eventually run for higher office," Sebelius said.
Steve Sebelius, political columnist, Las Vegas Review-Journal
