Tiger Blood Infusion Coming for the Little Caucus That Couldn’t?

(Chuck Muth) – As I noted back in July, there’s gonna be a heckuva big turnover for Republicans in the Nevada State Assembly next year.  Which is good news, because the current leadership and a majority of incumbent GOPers in The Little Caucus That Couldn’t could use an infusion of a little tiger blood.

And now that the district lines have been redrawn, here’s an updated look…

There are currently 16 Republicans in the Assembly.

John Ellison is termed out in District 33 covering Elko and much of rural Nevada.  His district is solid red, so we need a solid conservative to replace him.  The only announced candidate I’m aware of is Bert Gurr.  You can read more about him here.

RINO King Tom Roberts, AD13 in Clark County, is quitting the Assembly and running for Clark County sheriff.  Dr. Steven DeLisle, a conservative candidate who ran a solid campaign for a different Assembly seat last year, has already moved and announced his candidacy for this seat.  More info here.

RINO Queen Jill Tolles, AD25 in Washoe County, has also (thankfully!) thrown in the towel.  Longtime GOP activist Sam Kumar is running for the seat.  Was unable to find a campaign website for him though.

RINO Princess Glenn Leavitt, AD23 in Clark County, announced he was quitting the Assembly and running for the open Senate seat of termed-out RINO Sen. Joe Hardy.  But then the Democrats drew him, as well as Assemblywoman Annie Black, into the new Senate seat of RINO Sen. Keith Pickard.  So now Leavitt has cold feet.

But Pickard is equally despised by both Democrats and Republicans and would likely lose to Captain Crunch.  I doubt he runs for re-election and Leavitt will stick with his announced Senate run.

To replace him in the Assembly, two main candidates have emerged: Denise Ashurst and Danielle Gallant.  This is a solid red district, so I wouldn’t be surprised if others throw their hat into it by the time filing rolls around in March.

Speaking of Annie Black, AD19 in Clark County, I’m not sure what she’s going to do (she has a new campaign manager this time around), but word on the street is she plans to jump into the 4^th congressional district race.  If so, there’s a rock-solid conservative candidate waiting in the wings for Annie’s seat.

Andy Matthews, AD37 in Clark County, is leaving the Assembly and running for State Controller.  Not aware of any announced candidates for his seat yet.

Lisa Krasner, AD26 in Washoe County, is leaving the Assembly to seek the open State Senate seat there.  Not aware of any announced candidates for her seat yet.

Robin Titus, AD38 in Lyon County, has announced she’s leaving the Assembly to seek the open Senate seat of termed-out Sen. James Settelmeyer.  Conservative Lyon County Commissioner Vida Keller is running to replace her.  More info here.

Jim Wheeler, AD39 in Douglas County, has announced he’s leaving the Assembly to seek the same Senate seat as Titus.  Conservative County Commissioner Ken Gray is running to replace Wheeler.  Website expected to go up in the next week or so.

Greg Hafen, AD36 in Nye County, was appointed to fill the seat of late Assemblyman Dennis Hof.  He’s been, to put it mildly, a disappointment.  May as well have filled the seat with a potted plant.  But conservative firebrand Melissa Blundo (disclaimer, one of my clients), is challenging him in June’s GOP primary.  This one’s gonna be a barn-burner.  More info here.

Melissa Hardy, AD22 in Clark, and P.K. O’Neill, AD40 in Carson City, are expected to run for re-election.  However, both are anything but solid conservatives (P.K. voted for the Commerce Tax and Hardy votes often with the RINOs).  We could use some upgrades.  Let me know if anyone has an interest in challenging either of them.  They both represent solid R districts.

Conservative Freedom Caucus members Jill Dickman, AD31 in Washoe, and Richard McArthur, AD4 in Clark, are expected to run for re-election.  McArthur’s district is now less GOP-friendly and he’s vulnerable in the general election, but Dickman’s district has turned even more solidly red.

That leaves Heidi Kasama, AD2 in Clark, and Alexis Hansen, AD32 in Washoe. Both are expected to run for re-election next year.

So we have nine out of sixteen Assembly Republicans who definitely aren’t going back.  We have one to three who are vulnerable to a serious primary challenge.  And one at risk in the general.

That means it’s quite possible that the only veteran Republicans who will return to Carson City in 2023 will be Dickman, Kasama and Hansen.

If there was ever a time for conservatives to wrest control of this totally dysfunctional, go-along-to-get-along, stand-for-nothing-fall-for-anything, poorly-managed caucus, 2022 is gonna be it.

Let’s not blow it for a change.

Rumor Mill Report

It is NOT true that Gov. Steve Sisolak is considering appointing former Nevada GOP Chieftess Amy Tarkanian as the new lieutenant governor.

It IS true, however, that there’s talk of her running for the office next year.  Or maybe even secretary of state.

7 Worst Habits of Highly Unelectable People

1. Picking the wrong race
2. Picking the wrong district
3. Picking the wrong issues
4. Picking the wrong time
5. Picking the wrong consultants
6. Picking unnecessary fights with the media
7. Picking door-knocking over fundraising

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FAMOUS LAST WORDS

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Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and blogs at MuthsTruths.com