My opponent didn't fact-check a viral attack on the governor. He just hit “repost” and showed everyone exactly who he is.
Gov. Joe Lombardo gave an honest answer in a recent interview. Asked about his pay, he said, “I don't get paid very much.”
That's it. A small, human comment about running an entire state while making less than plenty of people who work under him.
Liberal blogger Aaron Rupar smelled blood and turned it into a viral gotcha.
He tweeted the quote alongside a claim that Lombardo's $170,000 salary is “over twice the median income in his state.”
The tweet took off. And my opponent in the Assembly District 41 race, Vinny Spotleson, reposted it to his own followers.
He didn't fact-check it. He didn't add context. He didn't think twice.
He just liked the outrage and amplified a class-warfare talking point to score a cheap shot against the governor.
That tells you everything you need to know about this guy.
This Is What Socialism Does – It Turns Envy into a Political Strategy
Comparing one person's paycheck to another's and calling it “unfair” isn't an accident. It's the whole playbook.
Socialism doesn't start with policy. It starts with resentment.
Find someone who makes more than you, point at the number, and skip the part where you'd have to explain what the job actually involves.
Facts are inconvenient when the outrage feels this good.
Spotleson has openly called himself a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. That's not a smear. That's his own words.
This repost just shows what that philosophy looks like once it's off the label and out in public.
Less about fixing anything. More about pointing fingers at whoever's paycheck looks bigger than yours.
And it doesn’t stop with the governor.
Once “he makes more than the median worker” becomes your standard for outrage, you have to be furious at almost everybody in charge of anything.
I work at a resort on the Las Vegas Strip. I don't know what my property's CEO takes home. I guarantee it's a lot more than I make.
It would never occur to me to whine about it online, because his job and my job aren't the same job.
Comparing my paycheck to his tells you nothing about whether either one of us is paid fairly. It's apples to oranges.
That's exactly what my opponent did when he boosted Rupar's tweet about the governor. Not by accident. But because he knew it would make the governor look bad.
If Spotleson Wants to Talk About Overpaid Government Employees, I've Got a List
Funny thing.
While he was busy reposting a shot at the governor's $170,062 salary, Spotleson didn't say one word about the government employees actually making Nevada taxpayers wince.
- UNLV football coach Barry Odom pulled a base salary of $400,000 in 2024, with a total package hitting $1.75 million once bonuses and incentives were included.
- Clark County Manager Kevin Schiller now earns roughly $353,000 a year. More than double the governor's pay. To run one county, not the entire state.
- UNLV's interim president, Chris Heavey, is under contract right now at a $540,000 base salary, plus a car allowance and housing allowance stacked on top.
- UNR President Brian Sandoval earns a $500,000 base salary, also with car and housing allowances layered in, to run one university.
Every one of those numbers is public record. Taxpayer-funded, every dime. And not one of them belongs to Joe Lombardo.
If my opponent actually cared about government pay being “out of touch,” this is exactly where he'd be looking.
He isn't. Because that was never the point. The point was to take a shot at a Republican governor and let a socialist talking point do the heavy lifting.
The Bottom Line
This isn't the first time Spotleson has leaned on slogans instead of substance.
He's called himself a socialist on his own social media. Now he's boosting a class-warfare talking point aimed at our governor.
No context. Just a number engineered to make people angry.
AD41 voters deserve a representative who checks the facts before chasing the mob, not one who grabs whatever talking point fits his politics that morning.
I've spent this race talking about what actually matters to families: jobs, affordability, and public safety.
My opponent spent his morning amplifying a socialist talking point dressed up as fact.
Gov. Lombardo isn't some out-of-touch fat cat.
He's paid in line with governors nationally, and far less than plenty of Nevada public employees below him on the org chart – from university presidents to a football coach to a county manager.
Vinny Spotleson didn't bother to look past the outrage before he hit repost. AD41 voters should remember that in November.
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