2023 Nevada Legislature: Winners & Losers, Part III

(Chuck Muth) – The 2023 Western Conservative Summit here in Denver wrapped up last night while a contingent of us Nevadans – April Becker, Melissa Clement, Jenna Lawrence, Dave Gibbs, Susan Proffitt and my daughter, Jenna – opted to walk up the street to Henry’s Tavern to watch Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals.

A good time was had by all.  Go Knights, go!

The highlight of the conference for me was hearing NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines talk about the insane unfairness of allowing trannies to compete against women in women’s sports – not to mention shower with them!

Riley’s a rock star.  A true hero.  And one heckuva role model for young women.  Jenna and I got to meet, talk to, and take a Polaroid with her…

Hopefully, we’ll get Riley out to Vegas sometime in the near future to headline one of our “Politics on the Rocks” cocktail receptions.  You’re gonna love her.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming…

Loser:  Victor Joecks

Las Vegas Review Journal columnist Victor Joecks’ background and experience is in conservative think-tank policy.

Yet he fancies himself a political Svengali despite never having been a candidate himself, never managing a political campaign, never consulting on a political campaign, and never having worked through a legislative session in Carson City.

Victor started criticizing and chirping at Gov. Joe Lombardo almost immediately after he was sworn into office.  On January 24 he bleat-tweeted…

“Yesterday, @JosephMLombardo didn’t even mention ESAs in his State of the State. Lombardo campaigned hard on school choice and his efforts so far are dismal.”

Victor continued yipping at Lombardo’s heels over Opportunity Scholarships, criticizing him for not pursuing aggressive school choice reforms like those being championed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  For example…

“What a difference a governor committed to fighting for school choice makes. Wish Nevada had one of those.”

But that’s a politically absurd comparison.

Both Abbott and DeSantis have Republican-controlled legislatures. Lombardo has a Democrat-controlled legislature.  It’s a classic example of apples and oranges, demonstrating that Vic really doesn’t understand much about politics.

And for that, he earns this session’s “Jon Ralston Award.”

Victor also regularly clapped himself on the back for “predicting” inevitable outcomes, such as “predicting” Democrats would continue asking for more money for public education no matter how much Gov. Lombardo offered them.

Derp. The proverbial rooster taking credit for the sun rising.

By the end of the session, it became painfully obvious that Victor’s incessant bleating wasn’t based on policy or strategy disagreements but some kind of personal grudge.  Maybe Lombardo gave him a wedgie on the campaign trail last year?

Anyway, this tweet from Victor on June 6 pretty much sums up his misguided misunderstanding of reality…

To which I replied…

“How can you see anything from how far up in the peanut gallery you are above the fray? Why don’t you come down & actually get in the fight w/us on the ground?”

Indeed, the two women at the tip of the spear in Nevada’s school choice movement – Valeria Gurr and Erin Phillips – were true warriors this session and understand the political reality Lombardo and the rest of us were up against.

While Victor runs around waving a white flag and posting memes he ripped off from someone else, the rest of us will be doubling down this election cycle and come back in 2025 bigger, badder, and better than ever.

And since Victor seems to like silly memes so much, I’ll leave you with this one showing political reality for what it is, not what his delusional know-nothing mind thinks it is…

Go Knights, go!

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Without Gov. Lombardo in Carson City, Nevada would be sliding closer toward one-party rule, like California.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial

“I don’t understand much about politics…” – Liberal blubber-blogger Jon Ralston, 1/2/20

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com.  You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com.  His views are his own.