November 6, 2018

Posted by Ryan C. Jerz on November 07, 2018

Well, that certainly didn't suck.

As the run up to the election was really ramping, it began to look like a huge disappointment was brewing for the people who really can't stand the current incarnation of the Republican Party. Polls were tightening, the trust in places like Florida and Ohio and Pennsylvania and just about all of the midwest was lessening. At least it was for me. And the unwillingness of any rural area of Nevada to break with the party that plays cowboy every couple of years to drum up votes in the name of fear of government control of (government) land, the invasion of differently-colored people, and the encroachment of, like, bans on plastic straws or something was especially disheartening.

What actually happened nationwide wasn't super great. It was good, but not great. What happened in Nevada was tremendous. An outright rejection of that crap, fueled entirely by the state's two urban areas, in a pretty convincing fashion.

Adam Laxalt, who goes by Adam Paul Laxalt ever since he moved to Nevada about five years ago to run for office in the state where Paul Laxalt made his name, was beaten soundly. Dean Heller, who is dumb, let Laxalt have the nomination without a fight, and was also handily defeated in his bid for reelection to the U.S. Senate. These are very good things. Heller was so far out of touch with Nevada that he had no business representing us in Washington. None. And Laxalt wasn't so much out of touch as he was clueless about what Nevada is. How could he possibly have an in depth idea of a state that he only moved to in order to begin running for political office using a highly-regarded name?

Those two races fueled a near sweep of statewide elected offices. Only Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske was able to hold on for the Republicans. She won reelection to that office by a margin of 6,464 votes (0.68%). That's barely a victory, much less a resounding one. Wes Duncan, who was riding Laxalt's coattails to the Attorney General's seat, was beaten. Michael Roberson, who was already embarrassed by a court ruling that invalidated his attempts get three state senators recalled because he didn't like them (they are Democrats), was the most lopsided loser of all the losers running for statewide office. These are all good things for the governance of the state of Nevada. A slate of some bad-faith-acting buddies, who all had power and power alone in their sights, being funded by a casino mogul who keeps trying to buy elections, was soundly thumped by the electorate and told to hit the bricks. On top of that, the democrats maintained control of both the state senate and assembly.

Local races here in Reno featured two Trumpy knuckleheads in Eddie Lorton and Joe Lawrence getting waxed by the incumbent mayor (Hillary Schieve) and city councilwoman (Naomi Duerr), respectively. I am a fan of Schieve, and not a fan of Duerr, but would have cast my vote for her had she been on my ballot, because the alternative was bad. One very reasonable city councilman (Paul McKenzie) was beaten by frequent candidate Bonnie Weber. That's not awesome, but if that was the trade, I'll take it.

What does this mean in Nevada? I can't say for sure. The next few years might be bad because these people who won might all really suck. But I don't think they do. The control of both legislative bodies, and the executive offices means we'll likely see an attempt to broaden the Nevada tax base, which should take us a long way toward beating the boom and bust economy cycle we have here. More stability for Nevadans is a very good thing, even if it has to come at the cost of a lower ceiling. I would take that. The continued smart policy of outgoing Governor Brian Sandoval, a Republican, won't hurt, either.

While watching some disappointing results roll in from across the country, I was getting pretty nervous. To make matters worse, Nevada has a law that says we have to wait until all votes are cast before releasing results. Well, we had several polling places stay open until 9:30 due to long lines. But once the results started rolling in, and it became obvious that the Democrats would blow the Republicans out here, the night began to get much better. I woke up hopeful that things were not going to take a dark turn in Nevada, and for that, I thank the rest of the state for helping me out.