Left to Right: Jennifer Atlas and Christian Bishop are competing in the Democratic primary for Nevada State Senate District 5 (Photos courtesy of the candidates)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Nevada State Senate district expected to have the most competitive general election race is also having one of the most cutthroat primaries, with two well-funded Democratic candidates actively campaigning and dividing support.

State Senate District 5, which covers parts of Henderson, is considered the most flippable seat this year for Democrats, who are currently one senator shy of a supermajority in the Legislature’s upper chamber. Securing a supermajority in both chambers would allow the majority party to override any gubernatorial veto, of which there have been dozens.

Republican state Sen. Carrie Buck, the incumbent who has represented the district since 2020, faces a primary challenge from self-funded candidate Richard Frederick, but she is significantly ahead in terms of actual donations and endorsements.

Meanwhile, the Democratic primary appears less certain. Jennifer Atlas, a competitive ballroom dancer turned paralegal and lobbyist, is the preferred choice of the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus, and has been endorsed by Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada and AFL-CIO, among others. Christian Bishop, an esports consultant and entrepreneur who appeared on a season of The Bachelorette, has the backing of Culinary Union, the Nevada State Education Association, and several veteran groups.

Bishop acknowledges there are people who are critical of him for running against a caucus-backed candidate, especially in what is expected to be a competitive general election race, but he says he doesn’t like gatekeeping. Those who think the Democratic candidate should be hand selected and not chosen by voters are undermining democracy, he said

“I’m a family man. I’m a mixed, biracial, diverse candidate. I’m young. I’m everything our Democratic Party has wanted to run,” said Bishop, who is 35. “I’m here to step up to that call.”

Bishop says he is a lifelong Democrat who since moving to Nevada eight years ago has become more active in politics, serving on the board of Henderson Democrats and canvassing and mobilizing for candidates up and down the ballot. He has contributed $100,000 toward Democratic candidates, including to Kristee Watson, who lost to Buck by less than 1% of votes in 2020.

Bishop is an esports consultant and has owned several tech companies over the years. He also appeared on the 12th season of The Bachelorette, which aired in 2016. (He was eliminated in week three.)

“I’ve been on both sides of the table — an everyday worker and a business builder who’s managing the responsibility of taking care of staff and making payroll,” he said.

Atlas comes with her own behind-the-scenes political experience, having worked as a lobbyist since 2018 and in the government affairs team for MGM Resorts. Before her political and policy work, she was a competitive ballroom dancer and teacher turned convention gig and concierge worker. After having her son, she decided to go back to school to become a paralegal, which led to her current professional endeavors.

She said her “zigzaggy” career path makes her acutely aware of the cyclical nature of the economy in Southern Nevada. What sets her apart from Bishop, in her eyes, is that she understands “how Nevada policy works.”

“I have been in this world,” she said. “I can get in on day one and work, work on health care, really start to make a difference. I feel like I’m the one that can hit the ground running and really represent the district.”

Supporters of Bishop are pointing to that experience as a negative. Strong Public Schools Nevada, a PAC associated with NSEA, sent a mailer in support of Bishop that highlighted the fact Atlas is listed as a registered lobbyist for the Athletics Investment Group, for which state lawmakers approved $380 million in public assistance to build a baseball stadium in the Las Vegas Strip. The education group vehemently opposes that project.

Atlas and Bishop both identified education as a top priority for the state. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will likely face Buck, a charter school executive.

Both Democrats expressed a passion for health care issues. Bishop noted he is married to a nurse at MountainView Hospital.

Atlas says one of her legislative priorities is to introduce a bill to automatically enroll into Medicaid babies who enter the neonatal intensive care unit. Currently, NICU babies are eligible for Medicaid but their parents must actively fill out the paperwork.

Atlas says she didn’t realize this when she gave birth to her son Beau 10 years ago, so she declined to fill out the paperwork and found herself with medical bills totalling half a million dollars, which she later had to fight.

“When I was presented with paperwork, I was sick in the ICU. I saw ‘Medicaid’ but I knew I had good insurance, so I didn’t think we qualified. We were focused on our baby. We weren’t thinking about paperwork.”

Bishop says part of his motivation for running is knowing a potential supermajority is up for grabs.

“What I’d like to see is forward thinking and a forward looking legislature, where we choose to invest, to not always be reactive,” he said. “How can we think a decade in advance, two decades in advance?”

Allegations arise

Atlas’s campaign has sent to voters mailers calling Bishop “completely creepy & seriously disgusting” and highlighting claims made by two women on She’s All Bach, a podcast focused on The Bachelorette, that he requested nude photos and canceled their hotel room after they wouldn’t have sex with him.

Nevada Legislative Victory, a PAC whose money largely comes from sitting Democratic state senators, sent an even more aggressive mailer attacking Bishop for allegedly “pressuring a young woman for sex.”

The Nevada Independent has reported on the allegations made in those mailers. Bishop has denied pressuring or expecting sex from the women.

The post Race that could decide control of Nevada Senate features testy Democratic primary appeared first on Nevada Current.

Shanon Bilbray-Axelrod, left, and Hunter Cain. (Campaign photos)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Hunter Cain, a veterans advocate who works in the military department of Grand Canyon University, is winning the money race against Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod in the Democratic primary for Clark County Commission District C, which is being vacated by Democrat Ross Miller. 

The winner will take on the Republican who prevails in a three-way race among April Becker, Gail Powers, and Tom Wagner. 

This is Cain’s third run for office. In 2020 he came in second in the Democratic primary race for Commission District C to Miller, who went on to win the general election. In 2022, Cain ran unsuccessfully for county recorder.

A foster parent, Cain says it’s no wonder the foster population is disproportionately represented in the jail. He says he’s seeking election to help the county address social issues such as what he says is a failure to retain foster homes

“The Department of Family Services is trying to appeal to the 21-year-old saying, ‘Hey, if we pay you a little bit more money, and instead of 10 weeks of classes, we’ll just break it down to two weekends.’ At the same time, they’re calling us glorified babysitters. That’s the mentality that the county has. Let me get in there and do something a little bit different.” 

He also wants to establish a department of veterans services at the county.

Cain has earned a number of associate degrees and two bachelor degrees, one in administration and management from the University of San Diego, and another from UNLV, according to his Ballotpedia entry and website .

Bilbray-Axelrod is the daughter of former U.S. Rep. Jim Bilbray. She served four terms in the Nevada Assembly. She cites her experience as a lawmaker and her ability to bring people together to forge solutions as her motivation for running.

In 2023, as chair of the Education Committee, Bilbray-Axelrod co-sponsored legislation that allows local governments to appoint four non-voting members to school boards in Clark and Washoe counties. The bill was touted as a means of addressing perceived dysfunction and conflict among elected school board members.

Money game 

Bilbray-Axelrod raised about $19,000 in contributions last year, and another $60,000 in the first quarter of 2024. She has roughly $58,000 on hand.

Her largest contribution is $10,000 from Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 525.

She has $5,000 contributions from Olympia Companies, the developer of Southern Highlands, and from Key Reid. Reid’s father, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, served in Congress with Bilbray-Axelrod’s father. 

Cain raised just under $197,000 in the first quarter of 2024, with more than half of it from in-kind contributions. He has $84,000 on hand.

The bulk of his support comes from the Armed Forces Chamber, of which he’s a member. “In the veteran community, I’m very well-known,” says Cain, who served in the Army from 2001 to 2010.

The founder of the Armed Force Chamber, Andre Haynes, contributed $5,000, his first contribution in excess of $100. Haynes’ wife, Patsy Brown, also contributed $5,000, her only contribution to a political race other than the $100 she contributed to her own campaign as a Republican running for public administrator in 2022.

Haynes’ daughter also contributed $5,000 to Cain, as did his daughter-in-law, the first contributions for both women.

“I’m glad they did it now. It’s a great time to start when you’re young,” Haynes said during an interview with the Current.

Joaquin Perry-Edwards, a member and employee of the Chamber, according to Haynes, also contributed $5,000 to Cain. Edwards went to prison after he pled guilty in 2001 to second-degree murder of his 3-week old son. He admitted to slamming his fist into the infant’s chest, causing the baby’s heart to rupture.

“His inspiring journey of overcoming and rebuilding resonates deeply with me,” Cain said of Edwards during an interview with the Current, adding he welcomes support from a diverse community. “I have in the past, and aspire to extend similar support to other veterans in need, ensuring they receive a hand up, not a handout.”

Cain, a disabled war veteran who receives a stipend from the government, loaned $20,000 to his campaign. “I could probably put another $25,000 into there. But after that, I would probably just say no. I’m trying to raise funds.”

His foster and adopted children have contributed another $5,000.

By comparison, Becker, the fundraising frontrunner on the Republican side, has raised $329,000, a third of which came from companies owned by her husband, Matt, while $60,000 is from political action committees connected to Laborers’ Union 872. 

Spreading the wealth 

The Clark County Commission is regarded as one of the most powerful boards in the state, with the Las Vegas Strip in its jurisdiction.

Cain suggests Clark County offer perks to make special events such as the Formula One race more palatable to locals.

“Why can’t we work with the Regional Transportation Commission to offer free bus rides for locals to various events? Say ‘We know this is inconvenient for you. We support you. We love you.’ Or seriously discounted tickets? Everyone was excited for the Super Bowl but unless you have $8,000 to $10,000 for a ticket, then most of you aren’t going,” he says. 

Bilbray-Axelrod suggests the county work creatively to incorporate into the festivities those businesses harmed by the race preparations.

“Why wouldn’t we have put a private event in Battista’s Hole in the Wall?” she says of a restaurant that lost business because of F1 disruptions. “There’s so many thoughtful out of the box ways that we could have made the community as a whole do well with all this money coming in. I just think that we’re maybe a little blinded by the light and idea of what F1 was.”

The two Democrats disagree on providing public subsidies to stadiums.

“I don’t think enough is done right now,” says Cain. “I think we’re in such a rush to build every stadium and get every team and every event here, that we’re neglecting the people that live here.”

As a state lawmaker, Bilbray-Axelrod voted in favor of providing $380 million in public assistance for the $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat A’s baseball stadium on the Strip. She says it’s important to extract promises for community benefits.

Gimme shelter

Clark County is in the throes of a housing crisis that has left low- and moderate-income families struggling to find shelter they can afford.

Bilbray-Axelrod says she doesn’t think rent control is the answer. She prefers solutions that would allow more residents to become homeowners.

“It is a very nuanced argument. I think it’s very easy to say that the rents are too damn high, which I would agree with. However, you don’t want to live in a community where you have a majority of renters. We know that that doesn’t help the community in the long run.”

Cain favors rent control, but says he doesn’t know at what percent rents should be capped.

He declined to say whether he supports inclusionary zoning, the practice of requiring developers to include a low-income or workforce component to their developments or contribute to a fund to do so.

Bilbray-Axelrod says she supports inclusionary zoning as well as industry-specific workforce housing for teachers and other professions. 

“When you’re offering up prime real estate, it’s important that the community benefits as well. And that’s going to look at a lot of different ways including parks and open spaces, but also affordable housing,” she says, adding she has no desire to stifle growth. “We’re going to continue to grow. We just need to make sure we’re doing it intelligently. We’re not looking at sprawl. We’re looking at smart development.”

She also supports the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, which is championed by U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and would open 30,000 acres of federal land in Hidden Valley near Sloan, 16 miles southwest of Las Vegas, to developers.

“I trust Catherine,” Bilbray-Axelrod said of Cortez Masto. “The devil is always in the details. So I’d like to see what actually comes out.”

Cain said he doesn’t have enough information on the legislation, which is endorsed by Clark County.

“Clark County needs to think outside the box,” he says, adding he supports a “massive increase in property tax” on second homes to support social services and public safety. “That would prevent a lot of these corporations from being able to buy up homes like it’s nothing.”

Bilbray-Axelrod says the county needs to get a grip on short-term rentals, which remove housing stock from the market.

“Unfortunately, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Short-term rentals are here. They just need to be regulated,” she says, adding “the county needs to do more to protect neighborhoods and protect the value of homeowners and renters.”

Cain disapproves of using urban housing stock for short-term rentals. He suggests the county should allow construction of STRs near recreation areas such as Lake Mead and Kyle Canyon.

“But I think that maybe not in the main city area,” he said. He suggests couchsurfing as an option in urban areas. “It doesn’t cost anything.”

Early voting begins Saturday. Primary Election Day is June 11.

The post Political novice out fundraising Bilbray-Axelrod in Democratic primary for Clark County Commission appeared first on Nevada Current.

Riley Gaines, the ex-Kentucky swimmer on Feb. 15, 2023 at the Kansas Statehouse (Photo: Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Women’s sports rarely get the respect they deserve and very few female athletes ever break through to become household names.

Stellar performances by Brittney Griner, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and many more have made the WNBA what it is today. But it’s not a coincidence that the arrival of Caitlin Clark, a white University of Iowa alum, has sparked a firestorm of media attention and endorsements.

So it’s unusual, to say the least, for Riley Gaines — a former college swimmer who tied for fifth place in the 200 freestyle final at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Championships — to become one of the best-known female athletes in the country.

Usually that sort of résumé would prompt another round of conservative griping about Millennials and Gen Zs being rewarded with participation trophies just for showing up — and never having to learn the tough, character-building lessons of pain, hard work and sacrifice.

Last year, North Carolina Republicans even introduced a bill that would eliminate such awards in youth sports. One of the sponsors, GOP state Sen. Bobby Hanig, told the media that “what we’re not teaching our children is to be prepared for life, be prepared for failure.

“… When kids are growing up they’re being taught it’s OK to just be OK. You don’t have to be the best,” he added.

But it’s A-OK with Republicans that Gaines isn’t the best in her sport — far from it. That’s because she’s turned her failure into a winning right-wing crusade against LGBTQ+ rights because the woman with whom she tied for fifth, University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, is transgender. (Again, even if Thomas were disqualified, Gaines would have only come in fourth, which doesn’t even get you on the podium).

Shortly after her loss, Gaines started popping up in statehouses across the country, advocating for bans on transgender athletes under the guise of feminism. It’s truly a bigoted solution in search of a problem. The Michigan High School Athletic Association, for instance, said in 2021 that only 10 trans athletes used the association’s transgender athlete policy in the last five years.

Having lost the battle for public opinion on LGBTQ+ rights — 71% of Americans support same-sex marriage — right-wingers have tried to peel off voters by whipping up moral panics about all-gender bathrooms and kids’ books featuring gay characters.

While Republicans have found success pushing anti-LGBTQ+ laws in red states, like Florida, Texas and Ohio, that hasn’t worked particularly well in battlegrounds. In 2022, Gaines campaigned in Michigan for GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon, who ran on a transgender sports ban, Ron DeSantis-style “Don’t Say Gay” law and banning “pornographic” books (Dixon never provided examples, despite famously promising a reporter she’d send a list).

Dixon lost to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by almost 11 points.

But Gaines’ career, at least, is still on a roll, as she’s hit the GOP Lincoln Dinner circuit, headlined a GOP Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds fundraiser and was the guest of U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.) at the 2023 State of the Union address. (Gaines also endorsed DeSantis for president, which worked out about as well as stumping for Dixon).

Reynolds went so far as to declare that Gaines is “fighting on the front lines of the most important women’s issue of our time” — which will come as a shock to the millions of people who voted for abortion rights measures and candidates in response to the far-right Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.

But for those with a serious case of main character syndrome, Gaines must truly be an inspiration. No matter how much you might fail, no matter how insignificant the things you’re obsessed with are, as long as you have an unstoppable ego, there’s hope that you might achieve Influencer status someday.

You may have heard that Gaines popped up in Michigan again this month, this time as the commencement speaker at Adrian College, a small liberal arts school close to the Ohio border.

In announcing Gaines as the speaker, a school administrator billed the event as “offer[ing] our graduates the opportunity to broaden their understanding of world issues and inspire them as they embark on their future endeavors.”

You could make the argument that may have been achieved if Gaines did a debate or at least took questions after a speech (although I’m personally not of the belief that much is accomplished by engaging with those who don’t believe in the basic humanity of LGBTQ+ people). But the format of a commencement address is one-sided by design, so an accomplished leader can impart wisdom on the next generation. (Again, it’s hard to see how a fifth-place college swimmer fits the bill).

It seems clear that college officials didn’t think it was worth considering how LGBTQ+ students or family members would feel being forced to endure hateful propaganda on what should be a joyous day for all. As a bisexual woman with two kids who are proud members of the LGBTQ+ community, I can say I wouldn’t have wanted to subject my family to that.

And several alumni did speak out.

“She [Gaines] has no message to deliver other than she hates trans people. That’s her message,” Leann McKee, who is trans and a 1984 Adrian College graduate, told the Advance.

But in inviting Gaines, Adrian’s controversy-courting president seemed to get the reaction he was looking for, just like having former Gov. Rick Snyder speak at the 2017 graduation only a year after the Flint water crisis became an international news story.

Maybe the only upside of this sorry episode is that Gaines upstaged “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak, who delivered the commencement address up the road at conservative Hillsdale College, where he chairs the board. It seems that being a TV fixture since Ronald Reagan was president can’t really compete with Gaines’ brand of Instagrammable victimhood.

This column was originally published in Michigan Advance, which like Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

The post Lessons from Riley Gaines on participation trophies and main character syndrome appeared first on Nevada Current.

Former President Donald Trump sits in court during the final day of testimony in his New York trial. Trump, the first former U.S. president to face trial on criminal charges, is accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments. (Photo by Justin Lane-Pool/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

WASHINGTON — The end of the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president is in sight as Donald Trump’s defense team rested its case Tuesday in Manhattan, where jurors have heard weeks of testimony from nearly two dozen witnesses about Trump’s alleged reimbursement of hush money meant to silence a porn star before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump did not take the stand after his team called just two witnesses.

The former president is accused of 34 felonies for falsifying business records. New York prosecutors allege that Trump covered up reimbursing his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen for paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels just before Election Day in 2016 to silence her about a tryst with Trump.

Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican candidate for president, denies the affair and maintains that he was paying Cohen for routine legal work.

The case will not resume until after the Memorial Day holiday, when closing arguments are expected.

A back channel to Trump

Trump’s defense team’s second and final witness, former federal prosecutor and longtime New York-based attorney Robert Costello, stepped down from the witness stand Tuesday morning. His brief but tense appearance began Monday afternoon and included an admonishment from Justice Juan Merchan for “contemptuous” conduct.

Costello testified to meeting a panicked and “suicidal” Cohen in April 2018 after the FBI had raided Cohen’s New York City hotel room as part of an investigation of his $130,000 payment to Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.

After Merchan sustained a series of objections from the prosecution Monday, Costello exclaimed, “jeez” and “ridiculous” on the mic and at one point rolled his eyes at Merchan. Merchan cleared the courtroom, including the press, to address Costello and Trump’s defense team.

Costello’s testimony confirmed that he offered a back channel for Cohen to communicate with then-President Trump through Costello’s close contact and Trump’s former legal counsel Rudy Giuliani as Cohen was under investigation, according to reporters at the courthouse.

New York does not allow recording in the courtroom but provides public transcripts of the proceedings.

During cross examination, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger showed a series of Costello’s emails in an attempt to convince jurors that Costello was actively working to assure Trump that Cohen would not turn against him during the federal investigation.

In one email between Costello and his law partner, he asks, “What should I say to this (expletive)? He is playing with the most powerful man on the planet,” according to reporters at the courthouse.

Hoffinger also established from Costello during her final series of questions that Cohen never officially retained him for legal help — reinforcing that Costello showed up in Cohen’s life only after the FBI raid.

Trump’s multiple indictments

Costello has been publicly critical of the hush money trial against Trump, and of Cohen, as recently as May 15, when he testified before the GOP-led U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

There, Costello told lawmakers that the cases brought against Trump during this election year are “politically motivated.”

Trump, who faces dozens of criminal charges in four separate cases, was indicted in New York in April 2023.

Three other criminal cases were also brought against Trump in 2023. They all remain on hold.

• The former president was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida in June 2023 on charges related to the mishandling of classified information. Federal District Judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely postponed proceedings, making a trial before the November election unlikely.

• Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., in August 2023. A four-count indictment accused him of knowingly spreading falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election results and scheming to overturn them. Trump claimed presidential immunity from the criminal charges in October 2023, which both the federal trial and appeals courts denied. Trump is awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Weeks after the federal election interference indictment, Trump was indicted on state charges in Fulton County, Georgia, for allegedly interfering in the state’s 2020 presidential election results. The Georgia case has been mired in pretrial disputes over alleged misconduct by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Courtroom conditions

In the dim, tightly secured hallway just feet from the courtroom at the New York County Supreme Court, Trump again criticized the trial Monday and accused prosecutors of wanting to keep him off the campaign trail.

“We’re here an hour early today. I was supposed to be making a speech for political purposes. I’m not allowed to have anything to do with politics because I’m sitting in a very freezing cold courtroom for the last four weeks. It’s very unfair. They have no case, they have no crime,” he said before the news cameras that he’s stopped to speak in front of every day during the trial.

Trump told the cameras that outside the courtroom was like “Fort Knox.”

He complained that there are “more police than I’ve ever seen anywhere,” and said “there’s not a civilian within three blocks of the courthouse.”

That statement is false. States Newsroom attended the trial Monday and witnessed the scene outside the courthouse during the morning, mid-afternoon and late afternoon.

Just as dawn broke, people standing in the general-public line vying for the few public seats in the courtroom squabbled over who was in front of whom.

About an hour later, a woman with a bullhorn showed up in the adjacent Collect Pond Park to read the Bible and amplify contemporary Christian music played from her phone. A man paced the park holding a sign that read, “Trump 2 Terrified 2 Testify.”

Several people sat outside eating and talking at tables in Collect Pond Park during the 1 p.m. hour, as witnessed by reporters who left the courtroom after Merchan dismissed the jury for lunch.

By late afternoon, a small handful of protesters holding Trump flags and signs shouted that he was innocent.

The post Trump declines witness stand as testimony in his first trial concludes appeared first on Nevada Current.

Val Thomason, Democratic candidate in Assembly District 10 (Photo courtesy of Val Thomason)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

A coalition of business organizations are behind an attack mailer attempting to tie a progressive state Assembly candidate to former President Donald Trump, whom the groups supported in 2020.

A mailer recently received by voters in Nevada State Assembly District 10 in Las Vegas claims that Democratic candidate Valerie Thomason and Trump “both hid campaign cash to influence an election” and are “both facing accusations of misleading Nevada voters.”

“Can we trust Donald Trump or Valerie Thomason?” it asks.

Thomason is one of three Democrats running in the reliably blue district, which spans across the central part of the Las Vegas Valley. Venise Karris and Kyle Greenwood are the others. No Republicans filed for the seat, so the winner of the Democratic primary is expected to cruise to victory in the November general election, where they will face only Libertarian Sean Moore.

The attack mailer was distributed by Nevadans for Economic Opportunity, which describes itself as a coalition of trade organizations standing together “to oppose the progressive left and pro public union growth in Nevada that is pushing aggressively anti-business policies in our state legislature.” The coalition’s board is composed of leaders from the Associated Builders and Contractors, Nevada Trucking Association, Retail Association of Nevada, and Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association.

Chris Daly, who as part of the Strong Public Schools Nevada PAC filed an election integrity report against Nevadans for Economic Opportunity over the mailer, said he isn’t surprised the groups are opposed to Thomason, but he finds it ironic they are attempting to mar her campaign by tying her to a candidate they supported. Strong Public Schools Nevada, which is affiliated with the Nevada State Education Association, is supporting Thomason.

ABC, NTA and RAN all endorsed Trump for president in 2020.

Thomason works for Teamsters Local 14 and organized for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020. She is a democratic socialist and active in the Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America. She lists “housing for all” and “universal free childcare” her top issues.

Trump is the antithesis of everything she stands for, she says.

The allegation referred to in the mailer involves a PAC called Leftists United for Nevada Assembly, which Thomason says she set up to try and support progressive candidates running for office. The PAC received $3,262 in contributions but the majority of the candidates they’d hoped to back ultimately didn’t file to run for office. Thomason transferred the majority of the funds — $2,826 — to her personal PAC. The rest was spent on Jovan Jackson, a progressive running for Assembly District 6, according to Thomason.

Thomason had not received notice of any formal complaint filed against her campaign, as of Friday. She says the average donation amount to the Leftist PAC was $40 and all of the donations fell below the threshold required for reporting individual donor names.

“I’m offended they did it,” said Thomason of the mailer. “I think it’s offensive to our democracy to send out a blatant lie.”

She continued, “Truthfully, I think this is the biggest sign that I would be the strongest voice on (progressive) issues. If there’s a person who will go against the corporations and the corporate lobbyists, it’s the person they’re attacking with full force.”

The transferred PAC money makes up the bulk of what Thomason has available for her campaign, according to her finance reports. Thomason has said she is not accepting any donations from corporate PACs or lobbyists.

Daly alleges in his election integrity report that Nevadans for Economic Opportunity is the one violating state election law by distributing what is clearly campaign material without being appropriately registered to do so. Nevadans for Economic Opportunity is listed as an inactive PAC on the state’s campaign disclosure reporting portal and has filed no reports detailing contributions and expenses.

Brian Wachter, the senior vice president for government and public affairs at the Retail Association of Nevada, is listed as the executive director of Nevadans for Economic Opportunity. He did not respond to the Current’s request for comment on the mailer or the group’s interest in the AD10 race.

Wachter is a son-in-law to Venise Karris, Thomason’s main competitor. Wachter, who unsuccessfully ran for Clark County School Board in 2020, was the first contributor to Karris’s campaign, transferring $2,000 from his PAC to hers in October of last year.

Karris is a retired union electrician and member of IBEW Local 367. She is endorsed by the Nevada Assembly Democratic Caucus, as well as multiple union and trades groups. Her campaign website lists no policy positions.

Karris is not named on the Thomason attack mailer and has not been formally endorsed by any of the groups associated with the coalition. Karris did not return the Current’s request for an interview or comment.

Kyle Greenwood, the third Democrat in the primary, does not appear to be actively running a campaign. He has collected no campaign contributions and spent no money, according to his campaign finance report. The Current could not find any online campaign presence for him.

AD10 is currently a vacant seat in the Nevada State Legislature. It was most recently represented by Democrat Sabra Smith Newby, who in August resigned in order to accept a job as deputy city manager of the City of Las Vegas.

Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to reflect Jovan Jackson’s political affiliation. He is a progressive candidate but does not identify as a democratic socialist. The article has also been updated to reflect how the Leftist PAC was distributed.

The post Coalition of Trump backers attacks Democrat running for state assembly by comparing her to Trump appeared first on Nevada Current.

(Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Next year, when key provisions of President Trump’s 2017 tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations expire, we have an opportunity to get our money back.

I’m not just talking about all the foregone tax revenue we’ve lost because the rich have paid so little since 2017 — though we should get that back, too. I’m talking about the money families have lost to corporate price gouging.

Let me explain.

In 2017, Republicans slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, giving massive corporations their biggest tax windfall since Ronald Reagan was president. A few years later, as Americans emerged from a global pandemic, these same corporations drove up prices for families.

While inflation hamstrung workers and families, it didn’t make a dent in corporate profits. In fact, as many CEOs boasted themselves, it’s been a boon. Companies simply passed rising costs along to consumers — and then some, bringing in record profits as a result.

All told, corporate profit margins skyrocketed to 70 year-highs. And by the end of 2023, when Americans were beyond fed up, after-tax corporate profits hit an all-time record high of $2.8 trillion. My organization, Groundwork Collaborative, recently found that corporate profits drove over 50 percent of inflation in the second and third quarters of last year.

But why would a change in the corporate tax rate unleash the kind of rampant corporate profiteering we saw in the aftermath of the pandemic? Simple: It’s a lot more fun to gouge customers when you get to keep more of what you pull in.

Look at Procter & Gamble, which has raised the price of everything from toothpaste to diapers. Last year, the company pulled in more than $39 billion in profit.

If they had to pay the 35 percent statutory tax rate, they would have sent nearly $14 billion to Uncle Sam. Instead, they paid a 21 percent rate and, using loopholes, got to keep an extra $10 billion — which helped with their combined $16.4 billion worth of dividends and stock buybacks for shareholders.

Corporations did well from Trump’s corporate tax cuts, with executives getting big raises and shareholders receiving big buybacks. But the real bonus came when inflation hit. Corporations used the cover of supply chain issues and broader inflation to hike prices more than their higher input costs justified — and they didn’t have to worry about their tax bill.

Our tax code is exacerbating some of the worst corporate excesses, effectively “subsidizing corporate price gouging,” as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) described it recently. But it’s not only that low tax rates incentivize companies to overcharge. Rock-bottom tax rates also make collusion more profitable, as we saw with Pioneer Oil.

Recently, the Federal Trade Commission barred former Pioneer Oil CEO Scott Sheffield from joining the board of ExxonMobil following their merger, because Sheffield allegedly colluded with OPEC to raise oil prices. As families struggled with higher energy costs, the oil and gas industry banded together to keep prices high, which according to one analyst accounted for 27 percent of inflation in 2021.

When the reward is higher with lower corporate taxes, executives like Sheffield are more willing to take the risk. Higher corporate taxes are both crucial for accountability and for ensuring that there’s far less incentive for executives to squeeze as much as they can from their customers.

Wall Street tycoons and CEOs didn’t take the heat of inflation — they fanned its flames and families got burned. It’s no wonder people overwhelmingly favor a tax code that’s no longer rigged for corporations, especially as they struggle with high prices.

Congress raising the corporate tax rate in 2025 is an opportunity to recoup some of the truly obscene profits corporate America raked in during this period of economic upheaval for American families. It’s time Americans got their money back.

This commentary was originally published in Otherwords.org

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(Photo: April Corbin Girnus/Nevada Current)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Nevada Senate Republican Caucus-backed candidate hoping to unseat Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro describes herself on her website as having “a pragmatic and results-oriented approach” but has previously identified herself as a member of a right-wing Christian organization.

Jill Douglass, a retiree who previously worked in financial services, is one of two Republicans running to represent State Senate District 6, which covers parts of Summerlin in Las Vegas. In the upcoming primary, she faces Josh Stacy, a tech developer who has raised no money and advertises no endorsements. The winner will challenge Cannizzaro, who does not face a Democratic primary challenger, and a third-party candidate in the general election.

2024 Primary Election Voter Guide

Douglass has not previously held elected office but last summer challenged Jesse Law as chair of the Clark County Republican Party. (She lost to the indicted fake elector.) At that time, Douglass noted in a public campaign pitch that she is a member of the American Christian Caucus.

The American Christian Caucus is an affiliate of the National Association of American Christian Communities, and believes churches need to be involved in politics and voice their opinion on “the laws being passed when the Bible is perverted.” Among the examples included on a national blog of things they believe “pervert” the Bible: “homosexuality was legal and encouraged,” “divorce was made easier,” and “abortion was made legal.”

“We must change the laws to make America Godly again,” reads the post.

One of the cofounders of ACC, Calvary Red Rock Pastor Gregg Seymour on a podcast last year declared that, “We’re in war time Christianity, and it’s never going to change. Peace time Christianity is over.”

Another cofounder, Fervent Cavalry Pastor Jimmy Morales has praised Trump for setting the stage for overruling Roe v Wade and urged Christians to “fight and take this country back.” Fervent Cavalry, formerly known as Calvary Chapel Lone Mountain, hosted the former president at an event last summer and was one of the churches that successfully challenged a Gov. Steve Sisolak’s pandemic-era executive order restricting the size of church gatherings.

Douglass did not respond to the Current’s request for an interview or questions submitted via email about the American Christian Caucus and whether her personal political views align with those expressed by the organization.

Douglass is an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, though the website for her state senate campaign does not mention him. In an interview with Veterans in Politics last summer, Douglass said she would support the former president in his reelection bid and called him “one of the most effective presidents we’ve ever had.”

State Senate District 6 has been highly competitive in the previous election cycles. In 2020, Cannizzaro won the district over Republican April Becker by just half a percentage point. In 2021, Democrats redrew the political boundary lines in their favor, extending their registration advantage. But this year’s election will be the first true test to see how swingy the district remains. A third of the voters of the district are registered as nonpartisans.

Douglass has been endorsed by the Nevada Senate Republican Caucus but is largely self funded, contributing nearly all of the $100,575 she reported on her first quarter campaign finance disclosure form. Notably, her campaign has not been endorsed by Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has been making a concerted effort to endorse and support many candidates running for the state legislature.

Cannizzaro began this calendar year by announcing her campaign had $700,000 on hand, a record for any state legislator going into an election year, and she reported nearly $134,000 in contributions in the first quarter of this year. That brings her on-hand cash to more than $800,000, as of March 31.

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Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Nicole Cannizzaro. (Photo: Trevor Bexon / Nevada Current)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

For the second time while serving in the Nevada Legislature, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro gave birth last year. And again, she publicly pledged to continue full participation in her duties.

As the nation’s groundbreaker when it comes to working moms in a state capital, Nevada made history in 2019 as the only female-majority legislative body in the U.S. Still, legislators like Cannizzaro acknowledge uncertainty before deciding to grow their families while serving.

Mom lawmakers grow in visibility but their proportional representation is still lacking

The number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled since 1971, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University (CAWP). Nearly 33% of the 7,386 state legislative seats are occupied by 2,432 women, the center reported. Meanwhile, Vote Mama Foundation estimates 23% of lawmakers are moms.

“Things within the political ecosystem have changed to be more open to women,” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research at CAWP. “Having more women also begets more women.”

And there are visible signs of progress at statehouses across the country as the number of mom lawmakers grow.

In Georgia, where women state representatives did not have a bathroom near the House chamber until the 1970s, there is now a lactation pod on the first floor of the Capitol. And a freshman Republican lawmaker has brought her baby to the floor daily, but more notably, the baby was given an official House name tag — labeling him the “baby of the House’’ — so he would have floor privileges. Just two decades ago, such a move was frowned on by House leadership.

“We talk a lot up here about how representation matters, and I believe that to be true,” Georgia state Rep. Lauren Daniel, a Republican, said to her colleagues late last year.

“I hope as I stand here today, and every day, as the youngest female member of this body, that it shows any young girl in this state who may find herself pregnant that her life does not end when a new one begins,” said Daniel, who first became pregnant when she was 17 and is now mother to four.

Still, moms are struggling to get elected and remain in office. Beyond child care, there are myriad impediments. It takes money and an organized campaign infrastructure. As candidates, they are confronted with gender stereotypes that they often consider in executing their campaign strategy. And the time away from young children can be daunting.

Having run for office herself, Liuba Grechen Shirley said she sees why moms, especially moms of small children, are often missing from elected office. Grechen Shirley is the founder of Vote Mama, a political organization that seeks to increase the number of moms in office.

“If you are a mother with young children and you decide to step up and run, the first question you get asked is always ‘but who will watch your kids while you campaign?’” said Grechen Shirley, who ran for Congress in 2018 in New York’s 2nd Congressional District while wrangling her 1- and 3-year-old children on the campaign trail.

A run for the money

When it comes to fundraising, men dominate. A 2021 OpenSecrets report analyzing fundraising during open-seat House primary races in 2020 found white men candidates led the money race, though white women candidates maintained a significant advantage over women of color, raising three times as much as Black women in open-seat primaries, according to the report.  

Women donors also give less money overall than men, comprising around one-third of money contributed to state general office and legislative races nationwide from 2019 to 2022, according to a 2023 report by CAWP. At the individual state level, financial support from women donors ranged from 14% of donations in Nebraska state races, to 46% of contributions in Colorado.

That doesn’t sit right for Grechen Shirley.

Data from the Pew Research Center shows 85% of women will give birth and become mothers by the time they’re 45 years old. Vote Mama’s research arm, the Vote Mama Foundation, found that in 2022, 23% of state legislators were moms, and 5% had children under the age of 18.

On Capitol Hill, 37 of 541 lawmakers in 2022 were moms with children under 18, equal to 6.8% of the 118th Congress, according to Vote Mama Foundation. Put another way, there were three times as many men named John or Jon as there were moms of minor children serving.

“Vote Mama exists because of my personal experience running for Congress with two small toddlers,” Grechen Shirley said. “I immediately understood why there were not more moms serving at the federal level when I was running because it is really difficult. It’s unsustainable for somebody who’s a working parent, somebody who’s not independently wealthy, somebody who is a primary caregiver. This system was designed for wealthy older white men.”

Vote Mama PAC has helped over 500 Democrats who are moms run for office. Grechen Shirley pressed the Federal Election Commission to rule in her favor to allow use of campaign funds to cover the cost of her child care so she could run in 2018. And since then, at the federal level, parents started using funds similarly.

Between 2018 and 2022, 68 federal candidates spent $717,706 in campaign funds on child care, according to a report released by Vote Mama at the beginning of the year. About half those funds were spent by women. Grechen Shirley wants people to know that efforts to help moms run for office also help dads.

Women of color represent 77% of total Republican campaign funds spent on child care, the report says.

“This is a complete game changer and it will help diversify both parties,” Grechen Shirley said.

A major barrier to running

At the state level, 70% of campaign funds spent on child care between 2018 and 2022 were spent by candidates of color, according to the same report.

Thirty-two states authorize candidates to use campaign funds for child care, but according to Vote Mama, in at least six of them, the option had never been touched. In Indiana, elections officials issued an advisory opinion allowing their use, and the South Carolina House approved legislation last month over the objections of the chamber’s hardline Freedom Caucus. But the bill died with session’s end Thursday after never getting a vote in the Senate.

A bipartisan pair of moms pushed for the change in Georgia by asking the state ethics commission to weigh in. The commission approved the change last summer through an advisory opinion.

Georgia Republican state Rep. Beth Camp said she thought it was odd that federal candidates could use campaign funds for child care expenses but state candidates could not. And she says she hopes the change will encourage more parents with young children to run for office.

“It is not a partisan issue. It is a nonpartisan issue because it impacts everyone,” said Camp, whose children are now adults.

Camp said she was surprised when she heard negative feedback from some colleagues who questioned why the change was needed when candidates had not used campaign funds for child care in the past.

“Well, honestly, we probably would have had more parents — not going to say women or men but more parents — enter into elected office if they’d had the opportunity,” Camp said. “When you start looking at how expensive it is to provide child care, there are some people who make the decision not to take that out of their family household budget.”

Rhode Island passed a law in 2021 letting state and local candidates spend campaign funds on child care. It has yet to be used by any candidate with child care burdens, man or woman.

Sen. Sandra Cano, a third-term Democratic state senator who has given birth to two children since she was elected in 2018, said she opted not to dip into her campaign war chest for child care partly due to public perception.

“I do feel I would put myself through more criticism if I did, even though it is legal,” she said.

Also a factor: her family members provide most of the care for her children, Arianna, 4, and Alessandro, 1. And her parents refuse to accept her offers to pay them for it.

Lack of access to child care is a major barrier moms face when running for office and that problem continues if they win the election, Dittmar said.

“(Women) are still more likely than their male counterparts to be the caregivers,” said Dittmar of the Center for American Women and Politics.

Ohio has not authorized political candidates to use campaign funds for child care.

Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, a Democrat, spent thousands of dollars in extra child care costs when she first campaigned in 2018. Her daughter was a 1-year-old and her two sons were in elementary school at that time.

“It was a big, expensive part of my first campaign that we paid out of pocket,” she said. “I am privileged to have the circumstance that I have with family nearby and the support network, but not everybody has that and I think if we want more parents with young children, especially women to run for office, we have to think about how do we create this support at work.”

And in Indiana, Ragen Hatcher, a representative from Gary, noted that childcare access and expenses continued to pose challenges even after she was elected. The mom of four moved her family hours away from their home in northwest Indiana so she could continue to care for them while she served in the legislature. Hatcher said she’d like to see free childcare offered at the statehouse, as well as the option to enroll her kids in schools closer to the state capital.

“Being a state representative or state senator, for young parents, is difficult. And I think it may be a barrier to why many younger people, and moms, don’t run for these offices,” Hatcher said. “There are some things that the legislature can do to accommodate people better with younger children, and I just hope that we start doing that instead of leaving that age group out — those who may have the younger children but don’t want to necessarily have to leave them at home.”

The X factor

From scheduling breast pumping, dropping kids off at school, securing child care and performing the full spectrum of duties expected of women as primary caretakers for their children, campaigning as a mom is a challenge and that’s before a person faces all the hurdles of serving in office as a mom, Grechen Shirley said.

“You campaign and you’re working full time for up to two years with no salary … the reality is no one talks about these things. Unless you know somebody personally who has run for office or served in office, there’s really no way to know what it will be like. It’s like childbirth, unless you know someone who’s gone through it, you really don’t know what it’ll be like,” Grechen Shirley said.

And no one questions why dads run for office because having kids is viewed as an asset for men in elections, and they’re good dads for taking a picture with their kids, Grechen Shirley said. But if a woman on the campaign trail or in elected office takes a picture with her kids, they’re “using” their kids.

Increased representation of moms in office doesn’t mean the behind-the-scenes burdens have lessened, said Jennifer Lawless, the Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and chair of its politics department.

Lawless highlighted U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat, as an example. Meng has talked about the continued stress of finding child care in New York while she sits through marathon sessions on Capitol Hill.

“It seems normatively wrong that women are being asked to manage this additional aspect of serving or running,” Lawless said. “We should have a political system where they should not be asked to manage something extra. Because women have been doing this for so long they’ve somehow figured it out.”

Said Dittmar: “In holding office you’re at the whims of leadership and deadlines and timelines. You can’t just say, ‘I’m sorry, I have to take off tomorrow because my kid is sick’ if you have a major vote.”

Lawless, who challenged U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin in the 2006 Democratic primary for Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District, said the experience was “incredibly taxing,” even as a single woman without children.

“I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have that third component of child care factored in,” Lawless said.

Because of that, some moms wait until their children are older or out of the house before running for office, but Dittmar said she thinks that’s changing.

“A lot of the women who have young kids feel like there’s a lot going on in the world and in their states that they need to speak up on and so you’re seeing that translate into candidacy and office holding,” she said.

It’s those life experiences that drive moms into running for office. Without people in positions of power who have experienced the challenges of raising children, things like child care aren’t prioritized issues, Grechen Shirley said.

“When you talk to men about why they ran, they say ‘I thought I would be good at this job’. When you talk to a woman, a mom with young kids in particular, there’s usually one particular issue that they reached out to their local representative to get help with and either never heard back from their representative or didn’t get the help that they needed and they said ‘you know what, I can do this job better,’” Grechen Shirley said.

For example, the female-majority in Nevada has advocated for policies such as the “pregnancy fairness act” that strengthens protections beyond federal law for pregnant and postpartum workers and endorsed a maternal mortality review committee to improve health outcomes, the Current has reported. In January, eight weeks of paid family leave for state employees after the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a family member with a serious illness took effect. Other issues, including pay equity, remain on the agenda.

Lawless didn’t think achieving parity between mothers in the population and in elected office was necessary, though. More important to Lawless was working toward equal representation of women in political office and campaigns, regardless of their family status.

“Right now if we continue at the rate we are currently electing women in Congress, it won’t be until 2108 that we reach parity for women,” she said.

April Corbin Girnus of Nevada Current, Megan Henry of Ohio Capital Journal, Nancy Lavin of Rhode Island Current, Anna Liz Nichols of Michigan Advance, Jill Nolin of Georgia Recorder and Casey Smith of Indiana Capital Chronicle contributed to this report.

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Geoconda "Geo" Hughes (left) is challenging state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen in Nevada State Senate District 3 (Photos courtesy of Hughes, Nguyen campaigns)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Culinary union is flexing its political muscle this election cycle, backing the daughter of their former secretary-treasurer in a primary challenge against Democratic state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen because she supported a bill the union vehemently opposed.

But Geoconda “Geo” Hughes says she wants to be the candidate for all labor, not just the powerhouse union she grew up around. Hughes is an intensive care nurse practitioner who worked through the pandemic.

The winner of the State Senate District 3 Democratic primary will almost certainly prevail during the general election in November, given the district’s heavy blue registration advantage and voting history.

Nguyen was appointed to the Nevada State Assembly by the Clark County Commission in 2018. She retained her seat in the 2020 and 2022 elections, winning the district by 27-point and 16-point margins, respectively. Then, in December 2022, she was appointed to the State Senate.

Nguyen says she welcomes this year’s challenge: “Everyone has the right to run. I stand on my accomplishments.”

Nguyen handily defeated a Democratic primary challenger in 2020, but that candidate did not have the backing Hughes has.

Hughes is the daughter of Geoconda Argüello-Kline, who led Culinary for a decade before retiring in 2022. Hughes’s candidacy was announced mid-March at a Culinary endorsement event.

Union leaders said they were targeting Nguyen because of her involvement with 2023’s Senate Bill 441, which repealed daily room cleaning provisions established in 2020 as a response to the covid pandemic. That bill, which passed the Legislature and was signed by the governor, was supported by every Republican and 19 Democrats across the state Assembly and Senate, but Nguyen presented the bill during its original committee hearing and has been pegged as one of two Democratic leaders on the effort.

(The other, Democratic state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, who actually sponsored the bill, is not up for reelection until 2026.)

Culinary ultiimately incorporated some of the repealed provisions into their contract negotiations.

But Hughes said thousands of Culinary workers, who are predominantly women of color, could have been moved from full-time to part-time, or lost their job entirely.

“That was the potential that legislation had,” she added.

Nguyen defends her support of the bill, saying the provisions needed to be repealed because they were always designed to sunset but wouldn’t because the trigger for that sunset relied on covid data that public health officials have since stopped collecting.

“It was the right thing to do,” she added. “It didn’t undo anything that was in place prior to covid.”

Hughes said Nguyen has sponsored other non-labor friendly bills, pointing to 2023’s Senate Bill 108, which revised laws around the sale of craft brews. (That bill received one contentious Senate committee hearing, then languished and died.)

“I am the pro-labor candidate,” said Hughes.

Hughes has been endorsed by Nevada State Education Association, UFCW Local 711, Bartenders Local 165 and Teamsters Local 631, 14, and 968.

Nguyen has been endorsed by Clark County Education Association, IBEW 357, SEIU 1107 and LiUNA 872. She also has endorsements from Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada and EMILYs List.

Nguyen, when asked what legislation she is proudest of, pointed to her efforts last session to, through the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates, increase the minimum pay for home health care workers, many of whom were making $11 per hour. SEIU, which represents the majority of home care workers in the state, heavily lobbied for that legislation.

“When it went into effect, you had thousands of home care workers go from making $11.50 to making $16, sometimes $17 an hour. That is something real. That is something you feel in your paycheck,” said Nguyen.

When asked what legislation she would like to sponsor or work on if elected, Hughes pointed to specific labor issues, like the allowed ratio of nurses to patients.

“There is so much we can do in this community. We need a health care and labor voice, who looks across legislation through the lens of how this will affect the average Nevadan, the workers? That person. That’s the person I represent. That’s who I am.”

Hughes also said she wants to support proposed legislation supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers union that would provide protections for grocery store workers after companies are bought or sold. That legislation is considered a priority for the union because of the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, which could impact thousands of Nevadana across the state.

“That’s a no-brainer for me,” she added.

Nguyen says if given another term she wants to continue efforts to strengthen reproductive rights, lower costs to prescription drugs, and expand graduate medical education programs to help address health care professional shortages. She also plans to continue her work on legislation related to psilocybin, the chemical component of psychedelic mushrooms, which emerging research suggests has mental health benefits.

“We’re talking about veterans suffering from PTSD who are seeking treatment outside the country for mental health,” she said, emphasizing that the conversation is not about recreational use. “That’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking we haven’t looked ahead to what that looks like for our country.”

Nguyen had raised nearly $78,000 for her campaign, according to her financial disclosure reports filed April 15. She is currently running a six-figure digital ad buy highlighting her support of reproductive rights, according to the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus.

Hughes had raised just $6,879, according to her campaign finance report, but that number reflects less than a month of fundraising.

Hughes is one of two candidates being pushed by the Culinary this primary cycle. Linda Hunt, 45-year member of the union who works as a food server at a downtown casino, is the other. Hunt is running in the Democratic primary in Assembly District 17 against Mishon Montgomery, an Air Force veteran being backed by the Nevada Assembly Democratic Caucus. That race is an open seat.

Nevada’s primary election is Tuesday, June 11, with in-person early voting running from May 25 to June 7. Mail ballots will be delivered to all active registered voters sometime in May.

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Brown has fundraised twice as much as the other 10 Republicans in his primary race combined. (Photo: Sam Brown campaign)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed candidates in all but one of this year’s competitive U.S. Senate races, leaving an opening for a mostly self-funded dark horse candidate to make a home stretch push to secure the Republican nomination and take on Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in November.

Nevada’s 2024 GOP Senate primary is theoretically crowded with 11 candidates, but retired Army Capt. Sam Brown has been the assumed frontrunner since announcing his intent to run roughly a year ago. Brown has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, as well as Americans for Prosperity, which is already running ads supporting him.

Brown has fundraised twice as much as the other 10 Republicans in his primary race combined. He has raised $5.3 million and had $2.3 million cash on hand as of March 31, according to FEC filings. In a distant second is Jeff Gunter, a wealthy dermatologist and former Trump ambassador to Iceland. Gunter has raised $551,000 in contributions but loaned his campaign $2.7 million.

Gunter describes himself as “110% pro-Trump” and has the backing of notable MAGA loyalists like U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and far-right activist Laura Loomer. Thanks in large part to his own deep pockets, Gunter appears to be the candidate with the best chance of upsetting Brown.

Virulent election denier Jim Marchant and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Tony Grady have raised $392,000 and $227,000, respectively. The other contenders — Stephanie Phillips, Barry Lindemann, Ronda Kennedy, and William Bryan Conrad — all raised less than $100,000.

Brown has the backing of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, whose popularity is expected to help candidates on the ballot this year.

But what Brown doesn’t have — yet, anyway — is a Trump endorsement.

That sets Nevada’s race apart from other competitive states. In Arizona, outspoken election denier Kari Lake kicked off her campaign in October with an endorsement announcement from Trump, who’d previously backed her during her failed 2022 gubernatorial run. In Montana, Trump endorsed businessman Tim Sheehy hours after Matt Rosendale filed for the race. And in Ohio, a Trump endorsement helped businessman Bernie Moreno win in a highly competitive primary. Trump announced that endorsement on Dec. 20, roughly three months before voters headed to the polls.

Trump has also endorsed Senate candidates in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

It’s unclear if Trump will endorse anyone in Nevada’s GOP Senate primary. If he doesn’t, it appears it will not be for a lack of trying. Brown visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month in an attempt to secure an endorsement, according to CNN, which also reported that some in Trump’s circle are pushing him to endorse Gunter.

Days after that Brown visit, Trump did, on his Truth Social account, share an image that suggests an alignment with Brown. “WIN NEVADA, SAVE AMERICA, VICTORY THROUGH A UNITED AMERICA FIRST TICKET” reads the top of the image, which also highlights polls showing Trump and Brown with significant polling leads over their competitors.

Voting in Nevada’s June 11 primary has already begun in earnest through its remote voting system, which is open to military, overseas, tribal and disabled voters. Election administrators have until May 22 to distribute mail ballots to all voters, though some are likely to receive them ahead of that deadline. The state’s two-week in-person early voting period runs from May 25 to June 7.

Trump is expected to be in Las Vegas on June 8 for a private fundraiser.

Gunter began airing political ads on April 12, according to AdImpact, which reported his campaign had reserved $654,000 worth of ads across tv, satellite and radio through primary election day. Gunter told Fox News he would launch a $3.3 million ad campaign.

One of Gunter’s ads highlights his connection to Trump, who in 2019 nominated him to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Iceland.

“When the stakes were high, Trump chose Gunter to represent the USA,” says the narrator of the ad.

Another Gunter ad, which is posted to his YouTube channel, attacks the GOP Senate primary frontrunner, referring to him as “Scam Brown” and calling him “the newest creature to emerge from the swamp” while showing closeup photos of the Purple Heart recipient’s face, which was scarred by combat injuries received in 2008 in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Brown’s campaign is almost entirely focused on Rosen and the general election in November. Earlier in the campaign cycle, he declined invites to debates with his Republican competitors.

The New York Times reported that, after the Gunter ads began airing, Brown appeared to acknowledge the attacks, saying there are “people who show up from places like California” who “want to name-call me this or that.” Gunter has been criticized for being a registered voter in California as recently as in 2022, though he has said he’s owned land and practiced in Nevada since the 1990s and relocated in 2019. (Brown moved to Nevada in 2018 from Texas, where he ran for office but failed.)

“That’s going to happen and we expect that out of people who were literally Democrats a year ago, to play that sort of game,” the NYT reported Brown as saying. “But just keep your head down. You know who I am.”

Brown will open his “first official campaign office” on Saturday, in Reno.

Whoever wins the GOP Senate primary will face an uphill fundraising battle. Rosen, who is not facing a competitive primary, has raised $19.6 million since taking office in 2019 and has $13.2 million cash on hand as of March 31, according to FEC filings.

Millions more are expected to flood into the state on both sides of the aisle. In 2022, Nevada’s Senate general election between Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican challenger Adam Laxalt — was the third most expensive in the nation, according to AdImpact. It was decided by roughly 8,000 votes.

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