In less than 100 days, Nevadans will head to the polls.
Once again, the Silver State is poised to determine which party will control Congress and the White House.
According to Christopher Stream, Director of the School of Public Policy and Leadership at UNLV, Nevada's role in electoral politics has helped cement its prominence in Washington, D.C.
"We've grown over the years, that has led for our delegation to have a much more influential voice, not just in a singular leadership position, as we think of Senator Harry Reid, who led so much in those days, but also among members of Congress and other staffers of those folks who are involved in really high level talks and high level innovations and policy expansions," said Stream.
While the names at the top of the ticket matter, dozens of other offices are on the ballot this November—positions that often have a far greater impact on our daily lives than those at the federal level.
It is those lower ballot races that often lead to the most confusion. People are busy making a living, raising kids, and going to school. They don't always have the time to carefully study local politics.
One source of confusion is often found at the local level – specifically, which level of government is in charge of what?
The reason is a principle known as Dillon's Rule, which limits the powers of local governments to those explicitly granted by the state.
Stream explains that can significantly hamper what a city can do versus a county.
"[If] I want extra fire protection, I want extra ambulance protection, I want extra parks," Stream said. "Well, then city government is probably where you're going. If you are more interested in good roads. I'm really interested in zoning spaces around me, I want to make sure that my neighborhood has police protection. Well, then probably the county makes more sense for your interests."
Another quirk of Nevada's local governments is that mayors, while elected separately from the city council, do not have any more power or authority than the rest.
"Mayors are really symbolic figures," he said. They attend ceremonies, they often get the giant scissors, right? That's a great perk, but they really hold more of a symbolic space because they are just one vote on the council. They don't have extra voting powers. They don't even set the budgets of their cities. That's done by the city manager and the administrative staff. So they really are a cheerleader, if you will,"
Guest: Christopher Stream, director, School of Public Policy and Leadership at UNLV
