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.

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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.

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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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Sen. Dina Neal, left, and NSHE Regent Laura Perkins. (Photos: Trevor Bexon/Nevada Current; Nevada System of Higher Education)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Democratic state Sen. Dina Neal is facing a challenge from a higher education regent in a primary race where the outcome will determine who represents the district for the next four years.

SD4 is a heavily Democratic district encompassing part of North Las Vegas. No Republicans filed for the seat, which means the winner of the upcoming primary election will automatically win the general election.

Neal was first elected to the Nevada State Senate seat in 2020 after representing the same area in the Nevada State Assembly for 10 years. To secure a second term in the upper chamber, Neal must survive a challenge by Laura Perkins, a first-term regent for the Nevada System of Higher Education. Perkins insists she was motivated to run by a desire to influence policy beyond what the Board of Regents is capable of, and not by dissatisfaction with Neal, who has butted heads with some members of North Las Vegas City Council and been publicly accused of misusing her influence.

‘It was just time,” Perkins said of her decision to run, “The time is right.”

Neal declined to be interviewed and did not respond to written questions submitted by the Current.

Perkins says her experience on the Board of Regents has prepared her for the Legislature.

“It’s like you have eight cities,” she said of the institutions overseen by the board. “I learned about finance, budget, human resources, investments, Title-9… You have to be a jack of all trades when you’re a regent.”

Perkins previously ran for mayor of North Las Vegas in 2022, coming in last in a crowded primary field of seven candidates. Pamela Goynes-Brown, who won that race and became the city’s first Black woman mayor, has endorsed Perkins in the state senate race. North Las Vegas City Councilman Isaac Barron also endorsed her.

“Perkins is an ethical, honest and fierce advocate for our entire community, not just her select friends,” said Goynes-Brown in a statement released by the campaign. 

“I know she will restore moral and ethical representation to Nevada Senate District 4,” said Barron in a statement.

Goynes-Brown and Barron’s comments allude to public allegations made by the former head of the publicly-funded grant program NV Grow that Neal attempted to pressure him into awarding her friend money for his small business. Neal, who in 2015 passed the legislation that created the NV Grow program, has denied any wrongdoing and characterized the accusations as being part of a smear campaign by the City of North Las Vegas in retaliation over her work with Windsor Park, a long-blighted neighborhood where the homes are sinking into the ground.

Neal sponsored a bill during the last legislative session that secured $20 million from North Las Vegas and $10 million from the state to make the remaining homeowners in Windsor Park whole by relocating them to new properties. The city opposed the bill.

Perkins, when asked, did not directly address the criticisms of Neal being lobbied by her endorsers, saying that she “wants to run for the seat, not challenge her.” But she did call the endorsements “very motivating and encouraging.”

Perkins said that, if elected, her focus will be on education and economic development. She said she’d also like to find a way to help middle class families who are struggling with being caretakers for their elderly family members, a situation she experienced in the final years of her mom’s life.

Neal chairs the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee. Many of the bills she sponsored have dealt with tax policy. She has led efforts to modernize Nevada’s sales tax, which currently applies to tangible items and not their digital counterparts, and proposed a method for adjusting property tax without touching the beloved cap. She was also an outspoken critic of Tesla receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax abatements without approval from lawmakers.

Neal’s campaign had nearly $27,000 cash on hand as of March 31, according to her campaign finance reports. Her top contributors include Citizens for Justice Trust and Cox Communications, which gave $5,000 and $2,500, respectively.

Perkins had raised approximately $2,000 as of March 31, according to her campaign finance reports. Half of that — $1,000 — came from the real estate development company American Nevada Holdings.

The post Regent challenges Democratic incumbent in State Senate District 4 appeared first on Nevada Current.

Catherine Nielson, the executive director of the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities and a member of the Nevada Employment First Task Force, speaking to a legislative committee last week. (Legislative stream screengrab).

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Advocates are pushing Gov. Joe Lombardo to embrace “Employment First” policies that assist people with disabilities in finding and keeping paying jobs.

Catherine Nielsen, the executive director of the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities and a member of the Nevada Employment First Task Force, told state lawmakers last week that the policy groups are in conversation with the first-term governor’s office to embrace the designation, which could be established via an executive order.

“Gov. (Brian) Sandoval did sign an employment first initiative several years ago,” Nielsen told lawmakers on the interim Legislative Committee on Senior Citizens, Veterans and Adults With Special Needs. “That was not carried through Gov. (Steve) Sisolak’s time in office. We are hopeful Gov. Lombardo — seeing as supportive as he is of employing the state of Nevada — will continue to support that effort.”

The Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities is housed within the state’s Department of Health and Human Services but is self-governed and independently authorized by the Federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act. That federal act covers 75% of the council’s budget, with the remainder coming from state general funds, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen has been with the council since 2016 and executive director since 2021. The council has five employees and one intern; it spent approximately $800,000 on grants, contracts and operations last fiscal year, according to its most recent annual report.

Ongoing areas of concern identified by the council include employment, health, education, transportation and housing. Specific issues identified through surveys and outreach include the state’s long wait lists for services, inadequate transition services for young adults coming out of school-based care, and gaps in support for getting and keeping a paying job.

Employment First policies vary in scope but all center around the shared belief that “employment in the general workforce should be the first and preferred option for individuals with disabilities receiving assistance from publicly funded systems,” according to the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE), a national organization pushing the policy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 30% of Nevada adults — 742,000 people — have some kind of disability. Those can include physical (14%), cognitive (14%), hearing (7%), and vision (6%) disabilities.

An estimated 8% of Nevada adults — 200,000 people — have an independent living disability.

In addition to its work on employment, the council is also working with the state’s Division of Emergency Management to address disability inclusion within emergency preparedness plans.

“The last time we had a mass shooting at the end of last year there was a student with disabilities who was left in the building unplanned for,” Nielsen said, referring to the on-campus shooting at UNLV on Dec. 6 that killed three faculty members. “We are working with UNLV to make sure that never happens again.”

The council is currently conducting surveys of disabled Nevadans to update its insight, which they will use to recommend policies to the Legislature and governor. The survey will close in January 2025 but reopen in the spring as the council begins drafting its next five-year state plan.

Nielsen said one area of concern emerging from the more than 200 surveys already completed is accessibility of recreational activities.

“Recreational activities aren’t just about going out and having fun,” she continued. “They build a sense of community, networking and skills that cannot be taught in a lot of other settings.”

Icy reception

Nielsen offered some suggestions to the Nevada State Legislature itself, saying there was room for improved accessibility during hearings: “There have been many, many times that we have had people who are deaf and hard of hearing come to the Legislature, request an interpreter … and they remove the interpreter from the screen at various parts of the hearing, especially when it comes to your votes on the floor.”

She continued, “We encourage you, we beg you, to please increase accessibility. Provide interpreters and provide them all the time. … Imagine what it’s like to come to this room and sit in silence and not have any idea what you’re talking about.”

Nielsen’s comments received an icy reception from a pair of Democratic lawmakers who suggested she was offering complaints but no solutions.

“I heard a whole lot of criticisms and not a lot of solutions,” said state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop (D-Las Vegas), who suggested “the last 20 minutes” of Nielsen’s hour-long presentation had been critiques.

Dondero Loop pointed out that the Legislature does not have a staff and suggested it should be on the council to reach out and offer interpreters for important upcoming meetings. She also suggested the council consider funding a dedicated school for the deaf that had been requested by earlier presenters during the hearing.

Nielsen responded that her office would be happy to do what they could, but she pushed back on the characterization of her comments as criticism from her or her office directly.

“As much as they may seem like criticisms, it’s not our voices,” she said. “This is the community that has brought these concerns to us. We’re just the people that, unfortunately, have to deliver that bad news, and (we) sometimes have to say this is what your community is saying. … They have concerns.”

She added, “It’s not criticism. It’s passion. It’s their families.”

Nielsen was also rebuked for suggesting the current language of the Nevada State Constitution is “disrespectful and demeaning.”

State Sen. Pat Spearman (D-North Las Vegas), who chairs the interim committee, told Nielsen she should look at the Nevada Equal Rights Amendment, which was proposed by the Legislature in 2017 and passed by voters in 2020, suggesting that it had addressed those issues.

“It is the most expansive Equal Rights Amendment in the country, and that’s not my saying, that’s other people saying,” said Spearman.

But Nielsen was referring to language in the Nevada State Constitution that describes people as “deaf and dumb” and “insane.”

Assembly Joint Resolution 1, which was unanimously passed by the Legislature in 2021 and 2023, proposes removing that language. It will appear before voters as Question 2 on this year’s general election ballot. 

If that ballot measure is approved by voters, “insane” would change to “persons with significant mental illness,” “blind” to “persons who are blind or visually impaired,” and “deaf and dumb” to “persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.”

Spearman also took issue with Nielsen suggesting that the lack of interpreters was likely a budget issue for the Legislature, saying that the Legislature’s budget is done in conjunction with the governor’s office.

[Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Catherine Nielsen’s name.]

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(Clark County School District photo)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Eleven people sit on the Nevada State Board of Education. Four are elected by voters — one from each congressional district. The other seven are appointed by the governor or various public bodies.

Terms for all four elected board members are up this year, but only three elections will be held, and only two will appear on the June primary ballot.

For District 4, only current board member Tim Hughes filed to run, meaning he will automatically secure a second term. Hughes, who works for a national education nonprofit called TNTP (The New Teacher Project), was first elected to the board in 2020 to represent District 1. The political redistricting process, which occurred in 2021 after the last state board of education election cycle, shifted Hughes into a new district, which is why the district anomaly is happening.

For District 1, no primary will be held because only two candidates filed, meaning they will both advance and face off on the general election ballot in November. Those candidates are Tim Underwood and Tricia Braxton. Underwood told the Current he expects to launch his campaign website this week.

For Districts 2 and 3, five candidates are seeking to defeat two current board members. If any candidate receives more than 50% of the votes during the June primary, they will be declared the winner. If nobody receives a majority of votes, the top two finishers in each race will advance to the general election in November.

René Cantú currently represents District 4 on the state board of education but because of the political redistricting process is now running in District 3. His campaign website is not currently live.

Cantú is the founding executive director of Jobs for Nevada’s Graduates (also known as J4NG and JAG Nevada), which helps vulnerable youth finish high school. It’s a mission that hits close to home as a former vulnerable youth who graduated toward the bottom of his high school class but went on to earn a doctorate in higher education.

Cantú defeated a sitting board member to secure his seat in 2020. This year, he will have to worry about two other challengers seeking to do the same to him.

Danielle Ford is a former Clark County School Board trustee, serving one term from 2018 to 2022, when she was unseated by Irene Bustamante Adams. When she was on the school board, Ford was one of the most outspoken trustees against then-Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara. She has remained outspoken and involved in education since leaving office. She now runs a podcast called “Unraveling Education.”

On her podcast, Ford made it clear her intent was not to challenge Cantú, whom she called “a solid board member.” She said filed to run because it was supposed to be an open seat. Felicia Ortiz, the current elected board member representing District 3, was term-limited and could not run for reelection.

Ford added that she is nevertheless happy about the opportunity to serve on the state board. In response to an Opportunity 180 candidate survey, Ford emphasized how her experience and knowledge as a trustee would offer much-needed insight at the state level.

“There are many disconnects between the Nevada Board of Education and the local school districts which it writes policy and mandates for, and I learned exactly what those are,” she wrote. “I would first address the unnecessary and arbitrary reporting requirements from the State Board that puts extra workloads on teachers and administrators, and has contributed to the teacher shortage.”

Jasmine Kurys is a first-time candidate for public office. She told Veterans in Politics she is running because she wants “to start addressing the root of the problems we’re having as a country.”

Kurys told Opportunity 180 her vision of success is “ensuring children have access to nutritionally dense food, comprehensive nutrition/health education, and a curriculum that prioritizes practical life skills. This includes classes and programs focused on mental health, sewing, cooking, basic carpentry, breathing, gardening, mechanics, and utilizing technology as a tool, for examples.”

She continued, “STEM education is not the sole path to success, nor does proficiency in STEM subjects adequately prepare students for real-world challenges.”

Kurys’s candidate financial disclosure report states she works for a grocery store chain and farmers markets, and her professional website highlights past work in stage productions.

Angela Orr was appointed by Gov. Joe Lombardo to the board of education to represent District 2 in October 2023. That vacancy was created by the resignation of Katie Coombs in July. Coombs won the seat in 2020 by default when she was the only candidate to file for the office. 

Orr is the principal of Doral Academy Northern Nevada, a charter school, and has previously taught social studies and leadership. In an Opportunity 180 candidate survey, she calls education “a lifelong commitment and passion.”

“My vision for success in this role centers on elevating Nevada’s students and transforming our state’s education system into a model of excellence,” she wrote. “I’m determined to shift the narrative from Nevada consistently ranking at the bottom in educational standings to becoming a beacon of educational success.”

On her campaign website, Orr states that one of the three pillars of her campaign is fighting for equity of resources in schools and advocating “against blanket policies and practices that may be necessary in Southern Nevada but which do not serve the students and families in Northern Nevada.”

Dorzell King, Jr. is a former early childhood educator and permanent substitute teacher now working in business. He lists classroom ratios, student and teacher safety, career development and administrative efficiency as the top issues of his campaign.

Paul “Doc” Davis does not have a campaign website and his candidate disclosure statement lists no source of income.

“My reason for running for this position is my great passion for all types of education,” wrote Davis in response to an Opportunity 180 candidate survey, “and, more certainly, the need to elevate the literacy rate of our students in the State of Nevada.”

Matthew R. Buehler does not have a website for his Board of Education race but has previously publicly identified himself as a career Air Force veteran with two master’s degrees in business administration and biology. In 2022, Buehler ran for State Senate District 13 as a Republican and lost to Democrat Skip Daly. In 2020 and 2018, Buehler ran for Washoe County treasurer as a Democrat; he lost both times to Republican Tammi Davis.

The Current will update this story with campaign links and additional info on state board of education candidates as they become available.

The post Former CCSD trustee among candidates seeking to join State Board of Education  appeared first on Nevada Current.

Donald Trump in court last month. (Photo by Jabin Botsford-Pool/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Trump campaign and its Republican allies on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging Nevada’s ballot receipt deadline.

Nevada law allows for mail ballots postmarked on Election Day to be accepted and counted if they are received by county election officials within four days. This year, Election Day is Nov. 5, meaning ballots postmarked on or before that date must be accepted and counted if they are received by election offices by 5 p.m. on Nov. 9.

Plaintiffs in the new lawsuit argue that practice violates federal law and as a result “valid, timely ballots are dilated by untimely, invalid ballots.” They are asking the court to block the counting of any mail ballots received after Election Day..

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by Trump’s reelection campaign, the Republican National Committee, the Nevada Republican Party and Donald J. Szymanski, a Nevada voter. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, Clark County Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo and Washoe County Registrar of Voters Cari-Ann Burgess are named as defendants, as are the county clerks for Clark and Washoe.

Aguilar, in a statement provided by his office, said Nevada’s elections are “some of the most secure, transparent, and accessible elections in the country” and that voting by mail is a key component of accessibility.

“Our office will not comment on ongoing litigation,” his statement continued, “but I hope the RNC is putting as much time and energy into educating voters on how to participate in elections as they put into suing the state of Nevada.”

Nevada Democrats were quick to call the lawsuit baseless. Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director Hilary Barrett said in a statement the lawsuit is “yet another tactic to undermine democracy and disenfranchise thousands of Nevada voters by limiting when ballots can be accepted — even when postmarked by Election Day.”

The ballot receipt deadline lawsuit is one of three Republicans are pursuing in Nevada. The others are challenging a state law protecting election workers and its voter roll maintenance policy.

The post Trump and Republicans file suit to nullify Nevada ballots mailed on Election Day appeared first on Nevada Current.

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.

The post Culinary-backed nurse challenges Democratic incumbent in State Senate District 3 appeared first on Nevada Current.

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.

The post NV GOP Senate primary: Gunter attacks Brown, Brown woos Trump appeared first on Nevada Current.

(File photo)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

Nevada lawmakers should consider charging a filing fee to candidates in future presidential preference primaries, members of an advisory committee suggested Tuesday.

The Silver State held its first presidential preference primary election in February. Thirteen candidates appeared on the Democratic ballot. Seven appeared on the Republican ballot. (A “none of these candidates” option also appears on both ballots.)

Theoretically, the list of candidates could have been a lot longer. And not just because the Nevada State Republican Party held its own competing caucus with rules meant to ensure candidates skipped the state-run election.

Nevada does not charge a filing fee to people wishing to appear on a presidential preference primary ballot.

“We were curious what that would result in,” Mark Wlaschin, the deputy secretary of state for elections, told an advisory committee on participatory democracy. If every natural born citizen 35 years or older filed for office, Nevada’s ballot could have more than 50 pages for each party. “That would have been expensive.”

Wlaschin said discussions about requiring a filing fee did take place during the last legislative session but ultimately nothing was included in the bill that established the presidential preference primary.

While candidate numbers for the 2024 presidential preference primary were ultimately “not a problem” for the state, Wlaschin said, lawmakers could consider establishing a filing fee “to ensure Nevadans are not being taxed by excessively large ballot sizes.”

New Hampshire, another early state in the presidential nominating process, charges candidates a $1,000 filing fee in an effort to deter those who are not serious about running for president, said Wlaschin. New Hampshire’s 2024 presidential primary ballot included 21 Democrats and 24 Republicans.

Nevada does charge some presidential hopefuls a filing fee. Independent presidential candidates who want to appear on a November general election ballot must pay $250.

“I would hope that is something that will be rectified in the ‘25 or ‘27 session,” said Doug Goodman, a member of the committee. “We are further subsidizing a private organization.”

Pauline Lee, another member of the committee, agreed that the state should “be fair for all candidates.”

First votes cast for June primary

Votes have already been cast in Nevada’s June primary, despite election day still being roughly seven weeks away.

Nevada’s Effective Absentee System for Elections (EASE), which allows active duty military members, residents living overseas, tribal members and voters with disabilities to cast ballots electronically, went live Monday. Seven people had used the system as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Wlaschin.

EASE accounts for a small fraction of total voters in any election but it marks the start of votes being cast.

Election officials follow myriad deadlines set in federal and state law. Counties are required to send mail ballots to their overseas voters by Saturday, April 27 and to their out-of-state voters by May 2, or 40 days before election day

The deadline for distributing sample ballots to in-state voters is May 8, and the two-week, in-person early voting period will run from May 25 to June 7.

Primary Election Day is June 11.

Goodman expressed concern that Nevadans might not understand that the presidential preference primary is different from the June primary: “My fear is that there are going to be voters who will not turnout for the June primary, thinking ‘I’ve already voted.’’

Speaking of turnout…

Wlaschin provided the participatory democracy committee with some data on the presidential preference primary.

Turnout for the Democratic presidential preference primary was 22.5% and turnout among Republicans was 14.3%. Both figures represent the percentage among voters who were registered to each party on the date of the presidential preference primary.

Wlaschin noted that, because Nevada offers same-day voter registration, the roughly 800,000 voters who were registered to third parties or as nonpartisans had the option of committing to a major political party and participating in a presidential primary.

More than three-fourths — 78% — of voters in the presidential preference primary weighed in via a mail ballot, which they returned either through the mail or in-person at a physical dropbox. Only 11% cast ballots in-person during the one-week early voting period, and 10% voted in-person on the date of the presidential preference primary.

That use of mail ballots is significantly higher than in the last election cycle, where mail ballots represented 51% of turnout. Wlaschin told the committee a number of factors might contribute to that spike, including the timing of the election (in winter), the shorter early voting period (June and November elections have a two-week early voting period), or the nature of the races (the Democratic presidential primary was uncompetitive, while the Republican presidential primary did not include the party’s top contender).

“Suffice to say, it does appear that voters are interested in using their mail ballots,” added Wlaschin.

The embrace of mail ballots differed by political party, according to the secretary of state’s final voter turnout report, but was still widely popular among both parties. Mail ballots represented 80% of Democratic turnout and 49% of Republican turnout.

The post For some Nevadans, voting in the June primary has already started appeared first on Nevada Current.