I was so disgusted with this outcome that I almost changed my voter registration from Republican to nonpartisan. I once thought Hof’s election was the lowest point in Nevada political history because it showed that people would rather vote for a dead pimp than for a Democrat. In Nevada, this is especially true, as evidenced by the fact that a dead pimp who had been under investigation for sexual assault and had declared himself the “Trump of Pahrump” was elected to our Legislature. Unfortunately, the Trump effect on American politics has rendered the character of the candidate irrelevant to many voters. In the Republican party, for example, if it was discovered that a candidate committed an act of sexual assault, engaged in domestic violence, coerced a woman to get an abortion, was unfaithful to a spouse, engaged in shady business practices, or refused to support our constitutional form of government, then voters concluded the candidate was not qualified for public office and would not vote for the candidate. There was a time in our political culture when considerations of the character of a candidate superseded party affiliation, at least most of the time. Rather, as a threshold question, are there words and/or actions so egregious that they are disqualifying, in themselves? And if so, is claiming that the 2020 election was stolen and voter fraud is rampant, when there is no evidence of that, one of them? In Washoe County, many local races not only have election deniers running for office, they are being well funded by a millionaire conspiracy theorist who has dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into local and statewide races and successfully engaged in a hostile takeover of the Washoe County Republican Party.Īs voting continues across Nevada, when and why should voters conclude that a candidate is not competent and is disqualified from public office? I don’t mean disagreements over policy. In Nevada, voters are being presented with an election denier in almost every race for a constitutional office, a few House races, and one Senate race. Sixty percent of voters across the country will have candidates on their ballots who support former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Simply Connected by Alex Washoe