* There is a 4-way GOP primary to replace tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman Pat Hickey in District 25 (Washoe). It’s the Establishment’s hand-picked successor, Jill Tolles, vs. three conservatives.
If the challengers gang up on Tolles and turn-out is low, *maybe* there’s a chance to replace Hickey with someone who won’t vote (and capitulate at the drop of a hat) like Hickey. But at this point, I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
* Meanwhile, in neighboring Assembly District 26 (Washoe), there are only two Republicans squaring off in the GOP primary with no general election candidates filed. So the winner between conservative Lisa Krasner and the Establishment’s Jason Guinasso will replace tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman Randy Kirner.
Krasner came within 11 votes of ousting Kirner in 2014, so there’s a definite opportunity here for conservatives to pick up a seat.
* Although I mentioned earlier the GOP primary race in District 36 – in which two conservatives are challenging tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman James Oscarson – there’s a wild-card who will be on the ballot in November regardless of who the GOP nominee is.
Brothel-owner and celebrity Dennis Hof has filed as the Libertarian Party candidate in that race. This district was perhaps libertarian-leaning Ron Paul’s strongest district in his two presidential runs, so Hof could quite possibly pull off a general election upset here.
* In Assembly District 39 (Douglas), incumbent Jim Wheeler avoided a primary challenge when the Republican who initially filed against him withdrew his candidacy. However, no Democrat filed, so it will just be Wheeler vs. Alexander Dunn, an independent, in the general election.
Things could get interesting in this race. Dunn says on his website that he’s a lifelong Nevadan (Wheeler moved here a few years ago from California) and “believes in small and decentralized government responsive to the people’s will.” So this looks like a conservative vs. conservative match-up in the fall.
The reason this could get interesting is that Wheeler turned a lot of people off during the last legislative session when the allure of being an inside mover-and-shaker as one of the Assembly GOP’s leadership team caused him to “forget the ones who brung him to the dance” – including being the leader of the Not-So-Great-Eight in the Assembly who conspired to kill the campus carry bill.
And Wheeler, you may recall, still has that “I’d vote for slavery if that’s what my constituents wanted” controversy forever hanging over his head. So if Dunn has even a nominal amount of money for his general election campaign, he could possibly make a go of it in this very conservative district in a year where outsiders are doing very well at the polls.
So there you have. Probably a lot more information than you ever needed or wanted. But I hope conservatives find it useful. Cheers!
(Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and publisher of NevadaNewsandViews.com. You can reach him at ChuckMuth.com.)
