Ballots have gone out in the mail and the polls are set to open tomorrow for early voting in Nevada.
It’s been a tough election cycle for Democrats nationwide, and Republicans seem to have the edge in polling. Should we expect a red wave in Nevada? And, how important are endorsements? Could they make or break a campaign?
The Big Lie was that the 2020 presidential election was swayed by voter fraud. More than 60 court decisions found no proof of widespread voter fraud — but the lie lives on in the minds of some people.
State of Nevada host Joe Schoenmann was joined by longtime political columnist and founder of The Nevada Independent, Jon Ralston. Then, we spoke with John Vellardita, the executive director of the Clark County Education Association, Bert Johnson, a reporter with KUNR Public Radio and Tabitha Mueller, a reporter for The Nevada Independent.
Sisolak 'very vulnerable,' but Lombardo's positions unclear
Governor Steve Sisolak, a COVID-era governor, is “very, very vulnerable” to a challenge, Ralston said. But Joe Lombardo, “has presented very few policy differences, maybe school choice … and saying that Steve Sisolak didn't handle COVID the way that he would have, but I think Joe Lombardo hadn't thought much about statewide policies before he started running for governor.”
He called the now-sheriff “kind of a tabula rasa,” as it’s not quite clear what Lombardo as governor would look like.
“He has campaigned as a conservative Republican. Will he govern as one? I don’t know,” Ralston said.
On Friday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal endorsed Lombardo for governor. Last week, the paper endorsed Democrats for attorney general, state treasurer and secretary of state.
“In those three races, you have unqualified candidates on the Republican side, and some might say, and I would be some, that they are dangerous,” Ralston said. About the paper’s endorsements in general, he said “whether that makes any difference whatsoever in those races is a different issue.”
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Education union endorses no one in governor race
Vellardita said the Clark County Education Association interviewed both gubernatorial candidates twice, but they “just didn’t pass.”
He said the union’s priorities are teacher vacancies, lost instruction in the pandemic and the third priority is two parts: “One, the new funding formula that's based on need and inequity was passed – reformed the outdated 60-year-old system for our K-12 funding system. The second was we got additional money through a mining tax that was dedicated to K-12.”
Their union representa 18,000 educators in Southern Nevada, and 13,500 of them are registered to vote. Most of those registered voters are registered independents, he said.
While Ralston said not endorsing in the governor race was a disservice to their members, Vellardita disagreed:
“This state has not had a good track record on advancing K-12 in this state, and so we feel we have a role in trying to move that conversation and we don't give out our endorsements like they’re Starbucks gift cards.”
Report details influence of Northern Nevada GOP donor
In Northern Nevada, there may be no stronger support of that lie than Robert Beadles. Beadles, a California native who moved to Reno within the last few years, has made a name for himself as a leader in Washoe County Republican politics.
KUNR and The Nevada Independent wrote an in-depth story about Beadles last week. The question remains: How influential is he?
He “is a very influential character up here in Northern Nevada. He has influenced the election in a variety of ways,” Mueller said. “We saw him donate more than a million dollars over the past two years on political activities, including donating to Republican Joey Gilbert's campaign.”
When Gilbert lost the primary, Beadles paid more than $190,000 to fund a recount that didn’t change the results of the election.
“He would only agree to do an on the record interview if we promised that we would run his entire unedited interview on info on our website,” Johnson said. “We follow the NPR ethics handbook as one of our guideposts, and according to those rules, you can't let your sources dictate the terms of your coverage.”
Ralston called the report, available here, “what journalism needs.”
“This kind of stuff needs to be exposed,” he said. “It is a clear and present danger.”
John Vellardita, executive director, Clark County Education Association; Jon Ralston, CEO, The Nevada Independent; Bert Johnson, reporter, KUNR Public Radio; Tabitha Mueller, reporter, The Nevada Independent
