As noted in yesterday’s Muth’s Truths, the situation in the GOP Assembly caucus changes from hour to hour, not day to day. Indeed, just a couple hours after reporting that conservative Assemblywoman Michele Fiore had been removed as Chair of the Taxation Committee…she was reinstated.
And, I’m told, conservative Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman will remain on the Taxation Committee, as well.
That said, the “Collaborator Caucus” of moderate Republicans are still moving forward with the “nuclear option,” in which a half-dozen of them would vote on opening day of the Legislature with the 17 Democrats to oust Assembly Speaker-designate John Hambrick and replace him with moderate Assemblyman Paul Anderson in a “coalition” governing body.
The “Dirty Half-Dozen” that I’m hearing are former Minority Leader Pat “The Appeaser” Hickey (naturally), Assemblyman James Oscarson, Assemblyman Randy “Kirner Tax” Kirner, Assemblyman Chris Edwards, Assemblywoman Melissa Woodbury, and Assemblyman Lynn “The Bug Man” Stewart.
But there may well be others, including freshman Assemblymen Derek Armstrong and Stephen Silberkraus, both of whom have been on Team Hickey/Anderson from the beginning.
BTW, I’ve heard reports that Oscarson and Edwards, both Hickey/Anderson supporters, are telling people they’re not part of the “nuclear option” effort. Sorry, but neither has proved to be trustworthy in this fouled up business. So until I see something in writing…
Ditto Hickey and Kirner. Both have reportedly told the Washoe County GOP chairman that they wouldn’t support any effort to elect a Democrat Speaker…HOWEVER…they refuse to say whether or not they’d join with the Democrats to knock out Hambrick and install Anderson. That’s apparently a nuclear option they can both live with.
For her part, Fiore fired a shot across the bow of every possible member of the “Collaborator Caucus” on Thursday with this email…
“Anyone who would show such blatant disregard for the will of the voters of their district by joining with the Democrats to select a new speaker will face an immediate recall election as well as face removal from our caucus. We have been elected to do a job, and it is imperative that we quit playing politics and get to work for the people of Nevada.”
For the record, a recall of state legislators is not allowed to commence until 10 days after the start of a session. That would be February 12, 2015 for anyone who joins Hickey and Anderson in going nuclear.
And it won’t take much to get a recall on the ballot for a special election. Thanks to the exceptionally low turnout in last month’s general election, here’s how many recall signatures would be needed in certain districts…
Assembly District 26 | Randy Kirner: 5,163 signatures
Assembly District 19 | Chris Edwards: 3,266 signatures
Assembly District 36 | James Oscarson: 3,412 signatures
And here’s the ironically fun part: If the GOP collaborators collaborate with Democrat assembly members to kick Hambrick out of the Speaker’s chair, it would be Democrat voters who would be most interested in signing a recall petition and voting with conservative Republicans to oust a GOP incumbent.
Talk about what goes around coming around!
FYI, although former Assemblyman Wes Duncan was originally in the pro-Hickey/Anderson camp, he has officially resigned his seat to go work for our new conservative Attorney General, Adam Laxalt. He is no longer part of the matrix and folks should stop emailing him about this situation.
The leading candidate to replace Duncan, by the way, is rumored to be former Taxi Commish Charles Harvey, a black Republican with reportedly solid conservative street cred. I wonder where he stands on Uber?
Back to the Fiore flap…
There was talk that her ouster was because she’s a women. No it wasn’t. And wish she hadn’t played the “gender card” the way Democrat Erin Bilbray-without-the-Kohn did in her failed congressional campaign.
Look, the long knives are out for Fiore, not because she’s a woman, but because she’s an outspoken, unapologetic conservative who will drive the governor and the rest of the GOP establishment bonkers as they try to pass their billion dollar tax hike next year.
They’re also gunning for Fiore because Fiore has been so successful in organizing and managing a coalition of freshman conservatives who have been successful in first ousting Hickey as caucus leader, and then stopping Anderson from becoming Speaker-designate.
And Jon Ralston, Nevada’s #2 liberal blogger-without-a-TV-show after tonight, is after Fiore because Fiore treats him like the annoying pest he is instead of bowing at his feet, cowering in his presence and kissing his caboose.
These people would be going after her even if she was a man.
Just ask Assemblyman Ira Hansen.
COLLABORATOR CAUCUS CONTACTS
Nye County Republican Party Chairman Bill Carns sent out an email “Call to Action” Wednesday night about the possibility that some GOP assembly-critters might vote with the Democrats and pull the trigger on the “nuclear option.”
“Several Republican Assembly members are at risk of making such a vote,” Carns wrote to grassroots GOP activists. “We need to contact each and every one of them with a demand that party treason is not an option and will not be tolerated. Working within the Republican Caucus is always the answer where committing party treason and siding with Democrats against the Republican Caucus is never the answer.”
Ronald Reagan once said, “When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.”
Go get ‘em, gang!
Chris Edwards – edwardsct@yahoo.com
James Oscarson – jamesoscarson@me.com
Pat Hickey – Pathickey@dataclonemail.com
Derek Armstrong – derekarmstrong@arlintlaw.com
Paul Anderson – paul@andersonfornevada.com
Randy Kirner – randy.kirner@gmail.com
Lynn Stewart – lynnstewart@cox.net
Melissa Woodbury – woodmlw@yahoo.com
Stephen Silberkraus – stephen@silberkraus.com