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Lombardo names Kieckhefer chief of staff
Nevada Gaming Commissioner Ben Kieckhefer will be chief of staff for the Joe Lombardo administration, the governor-elect announced Monday. Kieckhefer, a Republican, served in the Nevada State Senate from 2011 until fall of 2021 when he resigned and was appointed to the Nevada Gaming Commission by Gov. Steve Sisolak. His district covered Carson City and […]
Survey says: Nevadans are happy, but not super satisfied?
Today was a good day. Nevadans are more likely to agree with that sentiment than residents of almost any other state, according to a new nationwide survey that asked people about their overall happiness, anxiety and life satisfaction. Gross National Happiness USA, a nonprofit that describes its focus as “changing the definition of progress and […]
Proposal to allow city-based school districts gets one step closer to reality
A proposed law that would open the door for breaking up the Clark County School District met a key state deadline Wednesday, with backers saying they submitted more than 220,000 signatures to qualify a statutory initiative for consideration by the state legislature in 2023 or voters in 2024. Community Schools Initiative is proposing changing Nevada […]
Democrats expand hold in Nevada Legislature, but will fall short of veto power over Lombardo
Republican Gov.-elect Joe Lombardo has promised to bring back school voucher programs and eliminate “soft on crime” laws. But his ability to implement right of center policies are likely to be handicapped by the Nevada State Legislature, which assuming unofficial results hold, will be solidly controlled by Democrats. Going into this year’s midterms, Democrats held […]
Talk of recession lingers as fiscal analysts prepare to set Nevada state budget
Fiscal analysts are cautiously optimistic about Nevada’s economic future, even amid nationwide chatter about the possibility of a recession. Emily Mandel, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the U.S. economy is slowing after a stronger-than-expected recovery from the pandemic but is “clearly not in a recession yet” and that it is “far from certain” that […]
With Cortez Masto’s victory, Democrats retain control of U.S. Senate
In a nailbiter watched all over the country, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto prevailed over challenger Republican Adam Laxalt and secured Democratic control of the U.S. Senate in the process. Cortez Masto was considered by many to be one of the most vulnerable U.S. senators up for reelection this year, and polls throughout the election […]
After backing Dems in other statewide races, Nevada voters elect Lombardo over Sisolak
Nevada Democrat Steve Sisolak will be a one-term governor, unofficial results now show. Sisolak is on track to be defeated by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Sisolak was trailing Lombardo by 2.2 points – roughly 21,000 votes — on Friday. “While votes are still coming in – and we need every ballot tallied and every […]
Question 3: Election reform proposal ekes out victory, will return in 2024
Nevada voters have signaled they are open to changing the way they elect politicians. Unofficial election results have Question 3, which proposes a new voting system that uses open primaries and ranked choice voting, leading with 52.5% support, or roughly 45,000 raw votes, as of Friday. Although there are still ballots awaiting counting, Question 3 […]
Nevada sheds two-tiered minimum wage, puts $12 per hour floor in constitution
Nevada’s unusual minimum wage system will soon be a thing of the past, unofficial election results show. As of Friday, the Nevada secretary of state was reporting that 54% of voters approved Question 2, which sets the state minimum wage at $12 per hour for all employees and removes a provision that allows employers to […]
Tens of thousands of still uncounted ballots could reverse current Republican leads
59,600 – that’s how many ballots were placed in drop boxes in Clark County on Election Day, officials announced Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, county officials said nearly 15,000 mail-in ballots had been dropped off by voters prior to Election Day, and another nearly 13,000 had been delivered by the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday. USPS delivered […]
It took until Election Night but Republicans and Democrats finally agreed on something: Be patient
Election Day has morphed into Election Week. Tuesday ended with none of Nevada’s top ticket races being called. Election officials at Clark and Washoe counties, which together make up almost 90% of the state population, announced they did not have the resources to process the mail ballots that were received on Election Day via the […]
In first-of-its-kind antitrust win, DOJ fines firm for suppressing wages of school nurses in NV
The Department of Justice last week announced it had reached an agreement with a health care staffing company that conspired with a competitor to keep wages low for nurses working with medically fragile students. Legal experts say it is the first criminal case win of its kind and could potentially be a landmark antitrust case. […]