2016’s Top 10 Nevada Conservatives
While the general consensus is that 2016 was a disaster for Republicans in Nevada, not so for conservatives. An awful lot of culling of the RINO (Republicans In Name Only) herd was accomplished, as well as a thorough mucking out of the RINO stable.
And with that in mind, here’s my list of the top ten Nevada conservatives for 2016…
10) Ira Hansen. Ira was one of the strongest opponents of RINO Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $1.4 billion tax hike and one of the biggest behind-the-scenes supporters of conservative candidates who ran against tax-hiking legislators in 2016.
9.) Jim Marchant. Jim defeated tax-hiking Assemblyman Glenn Trowbridge in the Republican primary, and went on to win the seat in the general election.
8.) Al Kramer. Al defeated tax-hiking Assemblyman P.K. O’Neill in the Republican primary, and went on to win the seat in the general election.
7.) Danny Tarkanian. Tark dispatched the Prince of RINOs, state Sen. “Tax Hike Mike” Roberson, in the 3rd congressional district GOP primary and refused to buckle under extreme pressure to “dump Trump” just weeks before the general election.
6.) Dan Schwartz. Despite setback after setback in both the judicial and political arenas, Nevada’s state Treasurer has plowed forward, undaunted, with efforts to make Nevada’s landmark school choice program, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), a reality.
5.) Ron Knecht. The Nevada State Controller led the successful legal battle to repeal Gov. Sandoval’s new job-killing “Commerce Tax” via referendum. Alas, the Nevada Supreme Court dragged its feet and didn’t clear the measure until a month before the deadline to submit signatures. As such, it didn’t qualify for the ballot.
This year.
4.) Wayne Root. Wayne is hands-down the most prolific preacher of the conservative gospel in Nevada. He’s an author, columnist, speaker, and radio talk show host. Wayne was also an early and outspoken supporter of Donald Trump.
3.) Adam Laxalt. Nevada’s attorney general has been the “Energizer Bunny” in fulfilling his campaign promise to protect Nevada’s sovereignty from federal government overreach. Adam was also unique among Nevada’s top elected officials for refusing to throw Donald Trump under the bus.
“Governor Laxalt” has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?
2.) Charles Munoz and Michael McDonald. At a time when all the “experts” declared that Donald Trump had absolutely no chance to win the Republican Party nomination, let alone the presidency itself, Munoz and McDonald defied conventional wisdom and boarded the Trump Train – Munoz as Trump’s Nevada director and McDonald as chairman of the Nevada Republican Party.
Trump won the Nevada primary easily, and came a heckuva lot closer in the general than anyone thought possible.
1.) Victor Joecks. So what did the former executive vice president of the conservative Nevada Policy Research Institute do in Nevada last year to warrant this #1 position?
Absolutely nothing.
Instead, Victor spent the year deployed in Iraq with the Nevada National Guard. As George Orwell would put it, Nevadans slept peaceably in their beds at night because rough men like Victor stood ready to do violence on our behalf.
He is now safely home and will soon begin fighting the conservative cause again in Nevada as an opinion columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Welcome home, Victor. More importantly…THANK YOU!
Cheers.
Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
Professor of Psephology (homeschooled)
Nevada’s #1 Irritator of Liberals and RINOs
P.S. If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to sign our “YUGE” inauguration card for President Trump.
NEWSMAX HEADLINES
- Kerry Warns Israel: Two-State Solution is the ‘Only Way’
- Trump: ‘Stay Strong Israel,’ I’ll Be in Office Soon
- Disputed Document Claims US Colluded With Palestinians
- Israeli Ambassador: Negotiations, Not Resolutions, Needed
- Adelson’s Yisrael Hayom: Kerry’s Vision Approved by Palestinians
- Trump: ‘Inflammatory’ Obama Preventing Smooth Transition
- Peter Pry: Trump Right, Not Reckless on Expanding Nuclear Arms
- Consumer Confidence at 15-Year High
- Gordon Chang: China Won’t Like Trump’s Changes
- Michael Moore Plans to Protest at Trump Inauguration
- NY Times Editorial Urges Trump to Sell His Business
- Fear of Trump Triggers Deep Spending Cuts by Major Union
- Trump Taps Bossert for Counterterrorism Post
- Rove: Numbers Don’t Point to Obama Third-Term Victory
- California Vows to Fight Global Warming, Defy Trump
- De Blasio Aide Chides Spicer on Trump Tower Evacuation Costs
- Wash Examiner: Trump’s Trade Czar Opposed Development
- WSJ: Some in Trump Administration Have Opposing Views
- David French to Media: RNC Didn’t Compare Trump to Jesus
NEVADA NEWS & VIEWS
I’m still enjoying the delicious irony of the fact that, after blowing just about every major media gig under the Nevada sun, liberal blogger Jon Ralston has now taken up residence at the Nevada News Bureau I founded back in 2009.
We spun it off to Elizabeth Thompson two years later, and it folded a year after that. But Thompson and Ralston are jump-starting the project next month under a new name: The Nevada Independent. And they’ve successfully hired some pretty impressive journalists to write for it.
But make no mistake, with Ralston as editor this will be a liberal publication.
Indeed, the bias in the news is more often what’s written about, not what’s written. And with Ralston as editor, we suspect the Nevada Indy will tilt hard left. We’ll know soon enough when we see if any true conservatives are quoted – rather than trashed – in stories, or just mushy moderates and RINOs.
Let’s hope the Nevada Indy resists Ralston’s worst tendencies and avoids the kind of liberal “fake news” we so often see out of CNN and the New York Times.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“In a clear sign that labor unions are bracing for lean times under Donald Trump, the massive Service Employees International Union is planning for a 30 percent budget cut over the next year, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek.” – NewsMax, 12/27/16