Dispatch from Nevada GOP Meeting in Ely

(Chuck Muth) – I’m sitting at a small table in my Nevada Hotel room in Ely looking out the window at the beautiful snow-covered landscape after a little dusting overnight.  The sun is out.  The roads have been cleared, and I’ll be heading back to the barn shortly.
 
I drove up from Vegas on Friday to attend the first post-election meeting of the Nevada Republican Central Committee (NRCC) yesterday and learned two things…

1. That attending Central Committee meetings continues to be as painful as watching Punky Brewster re-runs.
2. The cavalry isn’t coming.

Here are some quick highlights (more like lowlights).  And I’ll have a more detailed assessment written up for Inner Circle members in a Muth’s Truths PLUS+ column (hopefully) tomorrow…
 
The big news is that Sigal Chattah defeated Pauline Lee (222-147) to be the new Republican National Committeewoman for Nevada.  But other than that…
 
The reports presented by various party leaders proves these people remain in complete denial about the 2022 general election in which Republicans lost a U.S. Senate race, lost all three congressional races in Clark County, lost the all-important Secretary of State, Attorney General and State Treasurer races, lost a seat in the State Senate and lost two seats in the State Assembly (putting them in a super-minority).
 
However – doing his best “move-along-nothing-to-see-here” routine – Chairman Michael McDonald boasted of getting Joe Lombardo elected governor (he didn’t; Lombardo won despite the party, not because of it) and winning the generally inconsequential races for Lieutenant Governor and state Controller.
 
In McDonald’s mind, this constitutes a “red wave.”  Ugh.
 
Despite the fact that Republicans lost so big in so many races – due to over 155,000 active, registered Republicans staying home and not voting (remember, Adam Laxalt lost his Senate race by just 8,000 votes) – McDonald & Company bragged that Republican turnout was actually 10 points higher than Democrats!
 
That’s like the University of Michigan football team boasting of scoring 45 points in the Fiesta Bowl two weeks ago even though they lost 51-45 to Texas Christian University.
 
Sorry, but there are no second-place trophies.  A loss is a loss.  And all the spin in the world can’t change the monumental loss by Nevada Republicans in November. The party failed to turn out enough of its voters.  Period.  End of story.
 
And as a reminder, 2022 was the fourth consecutive losing cycle under Chairman McDonald.  He should have resigned and let someone new take the reins at yesterday’s meeting. He didn’t.  He’s refusing to admit his failures and is clinging to power.
 
Sadly, the members of the NRCC continue to drink his Kool-Aid and share in the delusion.  No effort to launch a recall of the chairman emerged.  These folks are comfortably numb with political reality.
 
If Republican voters in Nevada want to win more elections in 2024, they can’t count on the NRCC coming to their rescue. They’re going to have to take matters in their own hands. Help clearly is NOT on the way.
 
More ugly details in tomorrow’s Muth’s Truths PLUS+ for Inner Circle members.
 
For information on how to join the Inner Circle, click here.  Enter the promo code “member99” for $50 discount.
 
Now…where did I put my ice scraper?
 
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and blogs at MuthsTruths.com.  His views are his own.