How you helped deliver wins in Nevada state races

Republicans won some important contests in this year's Silver State elections.

December 11, 2020

ITEM #1:  Somewhat overshadowed in the aftermath of this year’s election have been the races for state offices here in Nevada.
 
As you know, Morning in Nevada PAC’s mission is to identify, educate, motivate and activate citizens in Nevada to advance conservative causes and elect conservative candidates. And so naturally, we channeled a great deal of our energy and resources this year into making sure conservatives were successful in state races up and down the ballot. We were highly strategic in our efforts — focusing particularly on those races that were likely to have the most substantive impact on the balance of power in our state.
 
Specifically, we ran a strong, focused, law-and-order messaging campaign, highlighting the importance of electing state and local Republicans we know can be trusted to prioritize public safety and make sure our brave men and women in law enforcement have the tools and resources needed to keep our communities secure. 
 
And we’re thrilled to be able to share with you that in a number of key races where we committed resources — thanks to your generous support, we should add — we helped conservative candidates achieve important victories.
 
Those included a critical win in state Senate District 5, where Carrie Buck flipped a Democrat-held seat to the Republican column. It also included victories in three Assembly races that resulted in seats shifting from Democrat to Republican — Jill Dickman’s win in AD 31, along with Andy Matthews’ in AD 37 and Richard McArthur’s in AD 4. And we also supported Douglas Herndon, who prevailed in a crucial race for the Nevada Supreme Court.
 
We’re enormously proud of these successes, and want to congratulate these elected officials on their hard-earned wins.
 
There’s no doubt that our law-and-order message — which, we should note, many Republicans shied away from this year but which we felt was important to stress — moved big numbers of voters. Many news outlets have noted that Latino voters in particular voted Republican in significant numbers this year because of law-and-order issues.
 
And it’s no surprise that the message was effective here in Nevada, where Democrats have consistently pushed dangerous ideas like sanctuary cities and others that undermine public safety for Nevadans of all backgrounds.
 
Thanks to the generosity of Morning in Nevada PAC’s supporters, we were able to run this aggressive, statewide campaign aimed at turning out like-minded conservatives and urging voters to back the Republican candidates in these pivotal races.
 
We invested just under a half-million dollars in this robust campaign, and our efforts included statewide television and digital advertisements — which contributed to record-breaking turnout throughout the state. We’re simply honored to have played a role in the election of so many strong conservatives.
 
Make no mistake: Nevadans are much, much better off in terms of our state government today than prior to this election because of these results. (Be sure to read the next item below for more on that!)
 
And it cannot be stressed enough that we could not have played our important role in these victories without your support.
 

ITEM #2:  The impact of this year’s victories in state races will indeed be profound in terms of the future direction of state policy, particularly the upcoming 2021 Legislative Session.
 
Writing in the Reno Gazette-Journal, Sam Kumar offers a nice breakdown of why it was so crucial that Republicans do well this year in state races:
 
“To provide a little context on the Legislature, going into this election cycle, Democrats had a majority in both chambers. In the Assembly, the Democrats had a 29-13 advantage, which is better than two-thirds. The advantage was 13-8 in the Senate, just one short of two-thirds. As some of you are probably aware, Nevada’s Constitution requires two-thirds majority in both chambers and the signature of the governor to raise taxes. In essence, if the Democrats picked up one seat in the Senate and held serve in the Assembly, the flood gates were open for tax increases as far as the eye can see.”
 
Because Republicans succeeded in picking up one Senate seat and flipping three in the Assembly, they denied the Democrats a supermajority in either chamber.
 
Which means that if the Republican caucuses in each house hold together, they can stop Democrats from raising our taxes in the coming session.
 
A big deal, indeed.
 
For the rest of Kumar’s analysis, click here.
 

ITEM #3:  Last week we reported on how the Clark County Commission, to its great shame, had voted unanimously to certify the results in the race between Ross Miller and Stavros Anthony for Commission District C.
 
This came despite the fact that Miller, the Democrat, held just a 10-vote lead over Anthony, the Republican — and the additional fact that County Registrar Joe Gloria and his department acknowledged they had identified 139 discrepancies in the race.
 
The Commission’s vote represented a complete reversal from its earlier indication that it would not certify the results because of the discrepancies and razor-thin margin, suggesting the race might be headed to a new election.
 
The Commission’s wholly unjustifiable about-face left Anthony with no choice but to pursue a recount, at his own cost, which is now under way, KXNT reports.
 
Anthony, currently a Las Vegas City Councilman and Mayor-Pro-Tem, summed things up in a pair of tweets, and also passed along information on how to assist his effort:
 

What Anthony has had to endure in this race is an outrage, and an injustice. We’ll continue to keep an eye on this story as it unfolds and will keep bringing you the latest.
 

ITEM #4:  As Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak continues to enforce draconian limits on the liberties of businesses and individuals across the state, he’s been able to do so in a completely unilateral way — subjected to no real accountability or oversight, not even from the state legislature.
 
After the Governor’s recently announced “pause,” Republican Assemblyman Jim Wheeler, who represents Douglas County, announced he’s had enough of Nevada’s new system of one-man rule and vowed to take legislative action to check the Governor’s power.
 
In a statement, Wheeler said he has introduced a bill that would “limit this Governor’s, and any future Governor’s, emergency powers to 15 days without approval of the Legislature” and would require that “all directives given under those powers also be approved by the legislature.”
 
He explained further:
 
“If the Governor believes that it’s necessary for him to continue to exercise emergency powers, then he should not be allowed to simply do so unilaterally and with no oversight. He should have to come before lawmakers, make his case, and then let the people’s representatives decide whether his emergency powers and edicts are to be extended.”
 
As long-running, vocal critics of the Governor’s heavy-handed and inconsistent response to the coronavirus outbreak, we applaud Assemblyman Wheeler for taking a stand and fighting to rein in our state’s out-of-control chief executive. Our system of checks and balances must be respected.
 
Now, we’ll see how the Democrats who run the legislature — and who have been embarrassingly silent throughout this debacle — respond to Wheeler’s bill. Do they have any interest in actually having a voice in this debate? Or will they keep sitting idly by as the Governor ignores the entire legislative branch of our state government and continues to do as he pleases?
 

ITEM #5:  As mentioned above, Republican gains in Nevada’s state legislative races this year mean Democrats now lack the constitutionally required supermajorities needed in both houses to raise taxes in the coming legislative session.
 
As the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s editors note, those GOP wins look especially important now, as a coalition of the left is already mounting an effort in favor of higher taxes:
 
“In a letter to the governor, the coalition — which comprises 60 groups, including many progressive organizations and unions — urged lawmakers to find new sources of revenue in order to prevent expenditures from falling. Tellingly, they balk at identifying their targets.”
 
The R-J’s editors point out the baselessness of the argument that more revenue is needed to fund our state government, noting that:
 
“On Thursday, the Nevada Economic Forum issued its revised budget forecasts, which will guide Gov. Steve Sisolak and lawmakers when they craft the state’s spending plan for the 2021 legislative session. The revenue estimates weren’t nearly as bad as they could have been given the circumstances. Members of the panel project that Nevada will generate about $8.5 billion in tax revenue over the next budget cycle, down just 4 percent from the current biennium.”
 
In other words, even a modest embrace of fiscal responsibility would render a tax hike altogether unnecessary in the coming session.
 
Yet that’s not stopping the left from demanding more.
 
The R-J’s editors sum things up nicely:
 
“Nevada’s private sector workers and companies have borne the brunt of this pandemic. There’s no reason state agencies should be immune from budget realities. The emergence of a vaccine offers hope that the fiscal pain will abate in coming months, but if agencies must make sacrifices, so be it. And any state lawmaker who advocates for tax hikes during these trying times will be on a suicide mission.”
 

NOTABLE QUOTE

 
“How long do politicians have to keep on promising heaven and delivering hell before people catch on, and stop getting swept away by rhetoric?" ― Thomas Sowell