Monthly archive

Gaming and mining run the state -- and have better grammar, too!
Gaming and mining run Nevada because lawmakers are in their pockets, so the citizenry needs to have better access to the petition process to ensure democracy survives. That’s the essence of a fairly amazing document filed this week with the Nevada Supreme Court, likely the final brief before the justices begin hearing arguments in a long-running case in which some government gadflies are taking on the state’s moneyed interests over access to the ballot. The case actually was filed against the...
Don't blame Twitter for bad campaign reporting
A few years ago, my mentor and a great journalist, Bob Stoldal, told me he worried that I was doing so much that he got to wondering, “When do you have time to think?” It was, as usual, the right question. And it came to mind as I finished reading Peter Hamby’s impressive and provocative study of campaign reporting, “Did Twitter Kill the Boys on the Bus? Searching for a better way to cover a campaign.” The study, which can be read here, was done for Harvards’s JFK School. Hamby, an excellent...
9/9/13--Andrew Martin, Bradley Mayer
CC GOP has prepared resolution on Syria
It may be moot after the president's speech Tuesday evening, but the Clark County GOP plans Wednesday to adopt a resolution opposing military intervention in Syria. The key passages: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Clark County Republican Party hereby declares that we believe military intervention in Syria to be against the best interest of the United States and it’s citizens at this time; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clark County Republican Party wishes to offer it’s full support to...
Prospective CD4 candidate making rounds in DC as PAC affiliated with his group filed
Niger Innis, who is exploring a run against Rep. Steven Horsford, is in Washington, DC, and his allies filed a federal PAC last week. The New America PAC -- the filing is posted here -- is overseen by Dan Backer, who is a lawyer for TeaParty.net, for which Innis is a strategist. Innis, reached via email, would not comment on the PAC filing or his incipient candidacy. But he appears to be moving forward. I have also posted here Innis' pitch to the National Republican Congressional Committee and...
9/9/13--Morning Flash
Good morning, everyone. Because I have a fertile, nimble mind or because I sadly have a very narrow focus even on non-workdays (i.e. no life), I got to thinking over the weekend when the last really competitive governor’s race was in Nevada. Even if you consider the Jim Gibbons-Dina Titus contest a close one – and the final numbers belie how obvious the outcome was going to be – that is an outlier. So how long has it been? Four decades! I was thinking of starting a new feature – Politician...
9/6/13--Morning Flash
Good morning, everyone. So on the eve of a court hearing that could determine the future of the Las Vegas Sun, one of the attorneys for Brian Greenspun, desperately seeking to keep his voice alive, declares on “Ralston Reports” that the Department of Justice is investigating the proposed dissolution of the Joint Operating Agreement. A short time later, Joe Alioto’s comments, not yet aired, are published in the Las Vegas Sun with a headline not attributing it to the paper’s publisher’s...
9/6/13--Bill Young
First PAC formed to oppose margins tax
This isn't the big one -- I still think the gamers, retailers at. al. are coming. But the former CEO of Charter Cable and a couple worried about the impact on business have formed an anti-margins tax political action committee called NV Jobs. (The paperwork is attached here.) Maria Martinez, whose husband is affilated with the conservative Cato Institute, says the PAC is "just a group of citizens," including Manny Martinez, the former cable company executive. "We're all in favor of funding...
Musing of the week: When was the last close governor's race in Nevada?
As most of Nevada's political elite expect a Brian Sandoval blowout next year, I began to think back to when a race for governor actually was really competitive. It's been awhile. 2010--Sandoval, 53 percent; Rory Reid, 42 percent  2006--Jim Gibbons, 48 percent; Dina Titus, 44 percent (Seems relatively close, but never really in doubt, even after three (!) scandals rocked Gibbons' campaign in final weeks.) 2002- Kenny Guinn, 68 percent; Joe Neal, 22 percent 1998 -- Guinn, 52 percent; Jan Jones,...

Pages