With Primary Election ballots having been received throughout the State of Nevada, we wanted to let you know of our endorsements for the June 9th election.  Not all of our endorsed candidates listed below are facing a primary opponent.  Those listed below who don’t have a primary opponent have already earned our endorsement for the 2020 General Election.   

Hopefully by now, you have heard that Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske ordered that the 2020 Primary Election be conducted as a mail-in only election.  That means all registered voters – unfortunately, even inactive voters – have been mailed ballots with postage-paid return envelopes.  

Your ballot must be filled out, placed in those envelopes, and mailed back to the Registrar of Voters, postmarked by Tuesday, June 9th.  NOTE: You must also sign the return envelope for your vote to be counted.  

As is our custom, Keystone’s Board of Directors creates an interviewing committee to invite and interview candidates for state assembly and state senate in key legislative districts.  After those interviews are conducted, the committee makes recommendations to the Board of Directors, and the Board votes to make the ultimate decision on endorsements.  This list of primary endorsements is a product of that process.

Nevada State Senate:

• Carrie Buck for Senate District 5 – which is an open seat due to Democrat Senator Joyce Woodhouse being termed out.
• April Becker for Senate District 6 against first-term Democrat Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.
• Senator Heidi Gansert for Senate District 15 – where she seeks a 2nd term to the State Senate.
• Senator Scott Hammond for Senate District 18 – where he seeks a 3rd and final term to the State Senate.
• Senator Pete Goicoechea for Senate Distrcit 19 – where he seeks a 3rd and final term in the State Senate. 

Nevada State Assembly:

• Dr. Steven DeLisle for Assembly District 29 against two-term Democrat Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen. 
• Andy Matthews for Assembly District 37 against first-term Democrat Assemblywoman Shea Backus.

Keystone will be announcing further endorsements for the 2020 General Election after the Primary Election on June 9th.  We have also provided political contributions to some of the individual candidates listed above, and we plan on making additional contributions in the weeks and months ahead.  

We also encourage you, our members and other interested parties that support Keystone’s mission, to do your part and help support these endorsed candidates so we can provide some balance in Carson City. 

*IMPORTANT*

 

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Quote of
the week

 

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Quote:

“The Reno City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to pass a "status quo" budget that includes no cuts in anticipation of a significant loss in revenue stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Anjeanette Damon
Reno Gazette Journal

Reno council passes 'status quo' budget without COVID-19 related cuts

Anjeanette Damon, Reno Gazette Journal
May 20, 2020

In 1994 and 1996, Nevada voters overwhelmingly passed the Gibbons Tax Restraint Initiative, which amended the state constitution to require a supermajority in both legislative houses to approve tax and fee increases. The language is unambiguous: A two-thirds mandate “is necessary to pass a bill or joint resolution which creates, generates or increases any public revenue in any form.”

Many lawmakers have chafed under the restriction and have at times tried to ignore it. Most famously, legislative Democrats in 2003 persuaded the Nevada Supreme Court to suspend the provision during a bitter budget dispute. Amid subsequent criticism, the court later repudiated its own ruling.

But the unfortunate tendency of the state’s judiciary to cover for lawmakers who seek to weaken the supermajority requirement remains alive. Consider a Tuesday ruling by District Court Judge Rob Bare involving scholarships for low-income Nevada students.

READ MORE HERE