GOP Nominates Sheriff Lombardo Sisolak for Governor of Nevada

(AP) – Nevada voters, who have never voted early or by mail before, will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether or not to replace Gov. Steve Sisolak, a first-term Democrat who has closed businesses, schools and casinos during the pandemic. . him with Republican Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo.

The campaign has been expensive and contentious, with the airwaves and Internet in recent weeks filled with sponsored ads by the candidates, their parties and political action committees that aim to widen the gap between the two. Polls predict very close.

Crime and Safety; criminal justice and immigration policy; abortion; the economy, inflation, gas prices and housing costs; education; and health care and an option for government-run health insurance were key issues in the race — along with former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Lombardo.

“Fun chaos,” observed Fred Lokken, a political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno.

Nevada is a key battleground state that Trump failed to carry in 2016 or 2020. Democratic President Joe Joe Biden defeated Trump two years ago it was less by 2.4 percentage points.

Voters are registered a reliable Republican in small, conservative towns with large tracts of land in 15 of the state’s 17 counties. The state’s main population center, Clark County, in and around Las Vegas, registers overwhelmingly Democratic. Washoe County and the Reno area lean slightly GOP.

The nonpartisan, libertarian, and other parties combined attract 700,000 of the state’s 1.8 million registered voters, more than either major party combined. Voter turnout is expected to be a factor in the gubernatorial race.

The 68-year-old served as chairman of the Clark County Commission before becoming Nevada’s first Democratic governor in two decades. He easily won his party’s nomination for a second term.

five years ago The 30-year-old praised Lombardo amid the glare of the national spotlight after a gunman killed 58 people at an open-air concert in Las Vegas. It was deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

Sisolak’s supporters today point to crime in Las Vegas during Lombardo’s tenure as sheriff and cite Lombardo’s staffing decisions in a department that has about 6,000 employees.

Governor Sisolak signed the state insurance option which was established last year by the legislative parliament headed by the Democrats. He frankly declares that, as the governor, he opposes any attempt to limit the right to abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Lombardo, who ran in a crowded GOP primary field, scoffed at the public health option with the epithet during a candidate forum. He said that he had an abortion through a “Pro-Life Lens”, but acknowledges that Nevada voters in 1990 approved a referendum allowing procedures up to 24 weeks.

Lombardo, 59, started as a Las Vegas police officer in 1988 and served two terms as the nonpartisan elected sheriff of Clark County, Nevada’s largest police agency. He acknowledges that crime has increased in the past two years, but blames limitations on funding and legislative powers.

Both candidates say they want to improve education in consistently ranked states at or near the bottom in funding and performance with a high student-faculty ratio. Proposals to break up the sprawling Clark school district, which has more than 300,000 students, have been shelved.

Both say teachers should be paid more. But the powerful Clark County teachers union, which endorsed Sisolak in 2018, refused to endorse the election.

Lombardo said he supports school choice, which helps parents send their children to private schools using public funds. Sisolak said that he does not want to divert money from public schools to private schools.

In the final report of campaign contributions and expenses, Three-year-old reported spent 13.6 million dollars this year and Lombardo reported spends 4.8 million dollars. Both reported spending more than $1 million in recent weeks, and political committees poured millions more into the race.

Sisolak received a maximum of $10,000 in contributions from several companies related to MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming.

Lombardo and the political committees that support him accepted supports millions of dollars from Las Vegas hotel magnate Robert Bigelow.

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