ELECTION ’16: Some Democrats I’m Supporting and Why

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(Chuck Muth) – It took six years for Theo Epstein, the Chicago Cubs’ president for baseball operations, to win the World Series and break that 108 year curse.

And guess what?  They’re going to have to start all over again from scratch next spring.  That’s the nature of the sport.  There’s always next season.

Epstein knew and said that building a winning club would take time.  Rome wasn’t built in day, and neither are world championships.  His objective was to get stronger season after season.  And in the process, losing some seasons in the short-term, as painful as they were, was necessary to move towards success in the long run.

Which is the same way conservatives need to think in politics.

No matter what happens on Tuesday, there will be all new elections in 2018.  And 2020.  And 2022.  And…

However, in some cases an individual loss this cycle could be devastating for the long term.

For example, if Republican Joe Heck loses to Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto-Reid, that not only would saddle Nevada with Reid-in-a-Pantsuit for six years, but could saddle the nation with Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader for a decade or more.

On the other hand, there’s the Nevada Legislature.

Voters elected a Republican majority for both houses in 2014.  However, they didn’t elect a CONSERVATIVE majority in either GOP caucus.  And so we got screwed.

In the Senate it was 9 RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and 2 conservatives.  In the Assembly, it was 13 RINOs vs. 12 conservatives.

As such, it was Republicans, led by a RINO governor, who gave us the largest tax hike in Nevada history.

Reminding us once again that it’s not enough to just elect more Republicans; you need to elect better ones as well.

So the question before Nevada conservatives is this…

Do you want to reward this betrayal of GOP principles by re-electing bait-and-switch Republicans who stabbed us in the back…or look at the long-term and set a precedent NOW that clearly demonstrates that such traitorous actions won’t be tolerated and will have serious consequences in the future?

I’ve been in this game full-time for over 20 years.  And God willing will still be in it for another 20.  So I’m playing for the long term.  As such, this question is easy for me.

Screw the RINOs.

Make no mistake: That attitude could well put the Democrats back in the majority for the 2017 session.

Then again, how much more damage could they do than the Republicans did to us in 2015?

In fact, had it been a Democrat governor proposing that $1.4 billion tax hike, most Republicans never would have gone along with it.

So let’s take a look at the Nevada State Senate…

Control of the State Senate, currently split 11-10 in favor of Republicans, depends on the outcomes of three races…

  • Senate District 5:  Republican Carrie Buck vs. Democrat Sen. Joyce Woodhouse
  • Senate District 6: Republican Victoria Seaman vs. Democrat Nicole Cannizzaro
  • Senate District 15:  Republican Heidi Gansert vs. Democrat Devon Reese

If Republicans lose two of these three, Democrats will regain the majority – and all three are close.

None of the Republicans are incumbents who voted for the tax hike, so I’m not out to “get” them in their individual races.  However, all three are under the control of GOP Senate Majority Leader Tax Hike Mike Roberson – the Prince of RINOs (Gov. Brian Sandoval is the King).

Seaman, in particular, is a problem.

Although she voted against the $1.4 billion tax hike as an assemblywoman last year, she broke her Taxpayer Protection Pledge nine times on other bills, has refused to re-sign it, and has gone completely over to the Dark Side by pledging fealty to Darth Roberson.

For her part, Gansert was a GOP establishment shill when she was in the Assembly and would also be a rubber stamp for Sandoval/Roberson next year.

As for Buck, I know her and like her a lot…but she, too, will owe her election to Roberson since Roberson has been her main funder for the campaign.

It’s a pretty crappy situation.

In these cases, I can’t bring myself to support any of the Democrat candidates.

Then again, I have no desire to reward Roberson for his treachery by returning him as majority leader.  Indeed, if the GOP loses its majority Tuesday night I won’t lose minute of sleep.

That said, if I lived in Buck’s district, I’d vote for Buck and hope for the best.

She’s never served in office, so we don’t know for sure how she’d vote.  Yes, she’ll be highly influenced by Roberson, but she’s a pretty strong-willed woman.  She deserves the benefit of the doubt until/unless proved otherwise.

On the other hand, history has shown that Gansert and Seaman will sell out conservatives and stab them in the back at the drop of a hat.  Knowing this, I couldn’t vote for either.

So in the Seaman race I’d symbolically vote for “none of the above” by simply leaving that race blank on my ballot.  (The actual “None of the Above” option only appears on ballots for statewide races.)

And in the Gansert race, I’d vote for the Libertarian candidate.

SIDEBAR: Which reminds me: None of the Supreme Court or Appeals Court justices drew opponents.  That’s not right.  They also killed ESA’s.  So I’m symbolically voting “None of the Above” in each of those races, as well.

One last Senate race: District 3.

The incumbent is Democrat Sen. Tick Segerblom, my favorite unapologetic liberal.

His challengers – one Republican and one Libertarian – have been all but invisible on the campaign trail.

Segerblom, on the other hand, is THE legislative champion of the marijuana industry.  If you oppose legalizing marijuana, vote against Tick.  But as everyone knows, I don’t.  And regardless of what happens with Question 2 on Tuesday, marijuana advocates will NEED Tick in the Legislature next session.

I’ve also, surprisingly, found common ground with Tick on a number of other issues, such as criminal justice reform.  Plus, he doesn’t seem to care for Tax Hike Mike any more than I do.  So even though he and I disagree on 95 out of 100 issues…he’s my guy in this race.

Now on to the State Assembly…

There were 13 RINO turncoats who voted for the largest tax hike in Nevada history.

Four of them were scared to death of facing their betrayed constituents in a re-election battle and quit.  Two others were defeated in primary challenges.  And five now face viable general election opponents.

One of these races is easy for conservatives…

RINO Assemblyman James Oscarson in District 36 is facing Libertarian challenger Dennis Hof – with no Democrat in the race.  Hof has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.  So there’s no downside for conservatives to replace Oscarson with Hof. (Disclaimer: I’m a paid consultant to Hof’s campaign.)

Next there’s RINO Assembly Speaker-of-the-Weak John Hambrick.  His sell-out of conservatives stretches FAR beyond voting for the largest tax hike in history.  The list is way too extensive to detail here.  Just take my word on this one.

His Democrat opponent, small businessman Owen Carver, was not the D’s preferred candidate in this year’s primary and his party actively worked against him.  He defied them and the odds.

Alas, the GOP voter registration advantage in the district is considerable.  Carver’s only shot is if a large number of #NeverRINO conservatives vote for Carver…which is exactly what I’d do if I lived in that district.

Hambrick screwed us royally…so screw Hambrick!

Next is Assembly District 21 between tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman Derek Armstrong and Democrat challenger Ozzie Fumo.  I’ve already detailed why I’d vote for Fumo in that race in a separate blog post.  You can read it here.

A similar situation exists in District 9 between tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman David Gardner and Democrat challenger Steve Yeager.  But unlike Fumo, I don’t know Yeager or anything about him.

So in that race I might be tempted to symbolically vote “none of the above” by leaving it blank on my ballot.  If Gardner is going to win, let him win with RINO votes, not conservative ones.

Then again, when the time came to actually cast my ballot if I lived in this district, I’d probably vote for the Democrat.  Gardner lied to and screwed conservatives royally…so screw him, too.

Ditto Assembly District 29 between tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman Steve Silberkraus vs. Democrat Lesley Cohen.

Silberkraus is both a weasel and a weenie.  He posts the most asinine tweets I’ve ever seen from a political candidate.  Indeed, I seriously think reading them kills brain cells.  As such, I stopped “following” him months ago.

He also lied through his teeth in a recent newspaper by claiming he wasn’t detained and placed in handcuffs by Metro for stalking his GOP primary opponent – and lied through his teeth about her in primary mailers.

Silberkraus is a tax-hiking RINO and a pathological liar.  He screwed conservatives royally…so screw him.  As a conservative looking at the big picture, I’d vote for the Democrat in this race this time.

Now, here’s the silver lining…

If these RINOs lose their seats and the GOP loses its majority, it’ll be their own fault for stabbing conservatives and taxpayers in the back.  Again, I won’t lose minute’s sleep over it.  But there could be a big benefit for conservatives as a result.  Here’s how…

The worst of the Assembly RINOs were the RINO leaders: Speaker-of-the-Weak Hambrick and Majority Leader Paul Anderson.

Those two guided and engineered the tax hike in the Assembly.  And even though both are likely to win re-election, that does not necessarily mean they’ll retain their leadership positions.

Indeed, depending on how some other races turn out, if Oscarson, Armstrong, Gardner and Silberkraus lose and the GOP ends up back in the minority, it’s possible that conservatives could gain the majority of the minority.

And that would mean Hambrick and Anderson could be ousted from leadership, just as tax-hiking RINO Assemblyman Minority Leader Pat “The Appeaser” Hickey (more on this clown below) was ousted immediately after the 2014 elections.

A Republican minority under conservative leadership would be FAR better than the Republican majority under RINO leadership that shoved the largest tax hike in Nevada history down our throats in 2015.

And that’s something conservative could build on for the 2018 election season.

Sometimes you just have to take one step back in order to take two steps forward.

Other Democrats I like…

In my own Assembly District 12, I’m supporting Democrat Assemblyman James Ohrenschall.

I don’t know his Republican opponent and have never heard from him.  No mailers or even any yard signs.  Hard to take candidates seriously who don’t take running a campaign seriously.

But more importantly, I haven’t forgotten that Ohrenschall was one of only two Democrats two sessions ago who defied his party’s gun-grabbing leadership and voted for that year’s campus carry bill.  That took guts.

The other Democrat who stood tall for gun rights was Assemblyman Richard Carrillo in District 18.

This one’s a bit more problematic for me because I know and like his Republican opponent, Christine DeCorte.  However…

While Carrillo got an “A-” rating by the National Rifle Association, DeCorte chalked up a “C.”  What kind of conservative only gets a “C” from the NRA?

I also found it extremely distasteful that DeCorte did a mailer against Carrillo over his arrest last year for DUI…even though he was passed out in his car and not actually driving.

It’s not that DeCorte used the arrest in her campaign.  That’s fair game.  But what she did was show a photo of a guy passed out in the bushes…but the photo was NOT of Carrillo.  It was a stock photo of some other guy!

That’s a foul even in the blood sport of politics.

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure how I would vote in this race.  Probably end up flipping a coin in the voting booth.

In the Clark County Commission Race for District A, I support incumbent Democrat Steve Sisolak.

The guy has a strong pro-business background, was the most active, inquisitive and responsible member of the Southern Nevada Tourism and Infrastructure Committee, and had the cojones to stand up to the firefighters union thugs a couple years ago.

And if he runs against a tax-hiking RINO for governor in 2016, I could very well end up backing him in that race, as well.  Never again will I vote for a “Sandoval Republican,” including Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison.

One more for the road…

For Nevada State Board of Education, District 2: David Carter.

From his bio, Carter says he “retired as the Executive Director of Fiscal Services, at Capistrano Unified School District (Orange County, California), a district of 53,000 students, in 2012. My service totaled thirty-three years in accounting/budgeting; including twenty-five in California school districts. My service included working at small districts (2,000 students) and large (53,000 students), and financially strapped as well as wealthy school districts. My time included working with school budgets, school construction accounting, and projecting future school housing needs.”

He also opposed last year’s tax hikes by the Nevada Legislature.  Sounds highly qualified and fiscally conservative enough regardless of who his opponent is.  However…

His opponent is Pat “The Appeaser” Hickey.

Hickey was once a RINO state assemblyman.  In fact, until after the 2014 elections he was the Republican Assembly Minority Leader who never met a tax he didn’t hike – including voting for the largest tax hike in Nevada history last year.

Scared to death of facing voters after that vote, Hickey quit and decided not to run again for re-election – which he would have lost in a landslide.

But as a payoff for his tax vote, Gov. Brian “Worst Governor in America” Sandoval appointed Hickey to fill a vacancy on the Board of Education.

Not only is Hickey a back-stabbing tax-hiking RINO, he also has a spine made of Jell-O and is one of the smarmiest politicians in the state.  Voters everywhere should cheer if he’s knocked off by Carver.

In conclusion…

I don’t expect all of you to agree with me on all of these.  And that’s OK.

But I can’t support any Republican who not only voted for that $1.4 billion tax hike, but also voted to screw Nevada businesses and job-creators with that new business income tax that’s very much like the one 80 percent of Nevada voters rejected at the polls in 2014.

Oh, and created a new “Nevada IRS” that even businesses that don’t have to pay the tax must report to.

I will not reward Republicans for this betrayal simply because they have an “R” next to their name, even if it means the GOP loses their majorities.  If they do, it’s their own fault, not mine.  Screw them.

And after all, if establishment Republicans aren’t bound by party loyalty – remember “Republicans for Reid” and “Never Trump”? – why should conservatives?

#NeverRINOs

Cheers.

Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
Professor of Psephology (homeschooled)
Nevada’s #1 Irritator of Liberals and RINOs

P.S. The Las Vegas Raiders take on defending Denver Broncos Super Bowl champs in tonight’s Sunday Night Football game.  And, hey, if the Cubs can win the World Series…

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and publisher of Nevada News & Views.  His opinions are his and his only.

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