general election

CARSON CITY – Political Action Committees formed by state lawmakers to help their candidates win seats in the Legislature are off to a slow start in fundraising, according to campaign finance reports filed this week with Secretary of State’s office.

Many of the lawmaker-created PACs reported no contributions in the first campaign contribution and expense report filed Tuesday and reflecting financial activity from Jan. 1 through May 18 of 2012.

CARSON CITY – Republican candidates have big leads in fundraising in four of five seats considered critical to control of the state Senate in the 2013 legislative session, with a slight monetary advantage in the fifth, according to campaign contribution reports filed this week.

Both Democrat and Republican caucus leaders are fighting hard to win the seats to control the 21-member house where Democrats now lead 11-10.

CARSON CITY – A proposal by Assemblyman Pat Hickey, R-Reno, to move Nevada’s primary election back to September to shorten the campaign season didn’t get out of the starting gate in 2011.

The Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee held one hearing on Assembly Bill 157, which had cosponsors from both major political parties. But it also saw serious opposition from state election officials and never came up for a vote.

CARSON CITY – Three of the Republicans seeking the right to challenge state Democratic Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford for Nevada’s new 4^th Congressional District seat sought to establish their conservative credentials in a televised debate today.

CARSON CITY – The leader of the Assembly Republican Caucus today used a Tuesday reporting deadline for candidates running for election this year to announce several proposals to require more accountability and transparency in the financing of campaigns in Nevada.

The Carson City Library Board of Trustees voted tonight to make a recommendation to the Carson City Board of Supervisors that the City Center Project be put on the ballot in November.

The board voted unanimously to forward the recommendation without a specific funding request, leaving that to the supervisors. Earlier this week, Supervisor Shelly Aldean said they are looking at a possible quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund the City Center Project, aka Nugget Project.

CARSON CITY – While Democrats registered more voters in March than Republicans, a GOP official noted this week that the party has made gains in four state Senate districts that are key to who will control the house in the 2013 legislative session.

A spokesman for Senate Democrats questioned the importance of the GOP analysis, however, noting that Democrats registered more voters than Republicans in two of the seats from February to March.

CARSON CITY – After months of prognostications and political maneuvering, Nevada’s 2012 election season crystallized today as the state’s two-week filing period for public office came to a close.

Next up: A June 12 primary followed by the Nov. 6 general election, which will see a lengthy ballot topped by the presidential race, a competitive U.S. Senate race and four congressional contests.

Also at stake is control of the state Legislature, particularly the state Senate, where Democrats have a razor thin 11-10 majority.

CARSON CITY – There was a flurry of candidates filing for office and some political maneuvering today as Nevada’s 2012 election season officially got under way.

Over 90 candidates filed for a variety of offices in Clark County.

Another 17 filed with the Secretary of State’s office and others filed in their respective counties around the state.

CARSON CITY – Bill Raggio, a lion of Nevada politics and the state’s longest-serving state senator, passed away during a trip to Australia on Thursday. He was 85.

Officials from around the state expressed sorrow and sympathy for Raggio’s family when news of the loss of the highly-regarded lawmaker was first reported by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston early today.

Longtime family friend Greg Ferraro told Ralston: “Officially, Bill Raggio passed away last night at 10pm PST of respiratory illness in Sydney Australia. Funeral arrangements are pending.”

CARSON CITY – With the potential for several vacancies within the state District Court system in the 2012 election year, the Secretary of State’s Office has issued a legal interpretation to address the issue of nominating candidates to vacated seats and to clarify questions about the process.

At least one District Court judicial seat in Clark County, and possibly more, could soon be vacant.

RENO – Former Sparks resident and George W. Bush presidential adviser Karl Rove predicted today the both houses of Congress will go Republican in the November general election, but said the presidential election is up in the air even with President Barack Obama’s low approval ratings.

CARSON CITY – Reno Republican Assemblyman Pat Hickey was unanimously elected today to be the new GOP Assembly Caucus Leader.

The former minority Leader, Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, stepped down because of his intention to run for the Nevada State Senate in District 19.

Assembly Republicans currently hold 16 seats in the 42-member Assembly, while Democrats control 26 seats.

Hickey, who represents District 25 in Reno, returned to the Assembly in 2010 after an absence of several years.

CARSON CITY – Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said today he opposes the earmark process used to fund various projects around the country, advocating instead that state priorities for federal support go through a regular budget review.

“The problem with earmarks, when you look at them, it’s symbolic largely, because it’s not that it’s a huge part of the federal budget,” he said. “But a lot of them appear at the end with absolutely no hearings and they are in bills.

CARSON CITY – Republican state Senator Michael Roberson said today he expects the GOP to retake control of the Senate in the 2012 general election, citing the quality of candidates recruited for two key Clark County races.

His optimism was countered by Sen. Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, who said he is confident Democrats will maintain control of the Senate come Nov. 7.

CARSON CITY – Two initiative petitions filed with the Secretary of State’s office that would amend the state constitution to outlaw abortion by declaring that life begins at conception are already facing legal challenges from the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
The petitions were filed in September by Personhood Nevada and the Nevada Prolife Coalition.

CARSON CITY – Racial gerrymandering, fracturing, packing, nesting – a three-hour hearing today in Carson City District Court over how to draw Nevada’s new political boundaries was full of arcane concepts and obscure terminology.
The much anticipated ruling from Judge James Todd Russell on guidelines for drawing those new districts will have major ramifications, however, for the state’s voters and its two major political parties.

CARSON CITY – The results of the vote in the special election in the 2nd Congressional District went the way that most pundits had predicted: Republican and former state Sen. Mark Amodei will assume the seat vacated with the appointment of Dean Heller to the U.S. Senate.

CARSON CITY – Nevada Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Byron Georgiou said he is in the race to win it in 2012 despite facing opposition from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

CARSON CITY – Nevada state Democrats today called on Republican presidential candidates to disclose the names of their campaigns’ major fundraisers – known as bundlers – in the name of transparency.
President Barack Obama on July 15 released his list of major fundraisers, which he also did in 2008. The disclosure is not required by the Federal Elections Commission.

CARSON CITY – Attorneys for the state Democrat and Republican parties argued their cases Tuesday before the Nevada Supreme Court over whether they should pick their candidates for the special election to fill the vacant 2nd Congressional District seat, or whether it should be a “ballot royale.”

SPARKS — Former Republican Party of Nevada Chairman Mark Amodei yesterday blew out the competition and became his party’s nominee for the 2nd congressional district special election on Sept. 13.
Amodei needed 162 of 323 member votes to win. He pulled in 221 votes compared to state Sen. Greg Brower who earned 56 votes and retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold who received 46 votes.

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced today that he is appointing Congressman Dean Heller to fill the unexpired term of John Ensign in the U.S. Senate.

Heller, a long-time resident of Carson City and Carson High School grad, will join the U.S. Senate on May 3, when Ensign's resignation takes effect. Heller was elected to the Nevada's 2nd district congressional seat three times. Before that he served as Secretary of State and represented Carson City in the state assembly.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Rep. Joe Heck praised GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval in remarks to the Nevada Legislature today for proposing a budget that does not raise taxes, saying it is the way to an economic recovery.
Heck, R-Nev., also expressed appreciation for Republican lawmakers who so far this session have supported Sandoval’s no new taxes or fees position during the lengthy review of his two-year, $5.8 billion general fund budget.

CARSON CITY – As Gov. Brian Sandoval today said it is premature to speculate on who he will appoint to replace GOP U.S. Senator John Ensign, Democrats in the Nevada Legislature said they will seek a resolution urging a “fair, open, and transparent process for appointing a temporary replacement.”

CARSON CITY – Lawmakers took time some away from the budget and other pressing issues today to honor former Sen. Bill Raggio, a fourth-generation Nevadan and the longest-serving member of the state Senate who retired earlier this year.

CARSON CITY – A new report from Nonprofit VOTE says Nevada’s voter turnout of 42.7 percent in the 2010 general election was up 5.6 percent compared to the 2006 turnout, putting Nevada in the top ten of the most improved states.
Nevada moved up from an overall ranking of 41st out of 51, including the District of Columbia, in 2006, to 29th in 2010. Nationwide, voter turnout stayed nearly the same, moving up just 0.3 percent from 2006 to 2010.

By Elizabeth Crum / Nevada News Bureau
Nearly 600 days before the general election and wearing a bright purple suit while proving she is no shrinking violet, Sharron Angle today cheerfully fielded tough questions from nine journalists for nearly an hour.
The sole (so far) candidate for Nevada’s second congressional district held the first press conference of her campaign in a small conference room at the Best Western hotel across from the Reno, NV airport.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
A national movement to guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states combined gained steam today with the financial support of a billionaire businessman who has committed resources to enacting the concept across the country, including Nevada.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Secretary of State Ross Miller says the time is ripe to get a substantial campaign finance reform package through the Legislature, and with Gov. Brian Sandoval and lawmakers of both parties in agreement on the need for change, he may be right.