Easy to vote in NV 'unfortunately,' governor says

Every 12 years. Occasional reminder: This is one of those elections. Every dozen years there’s an election in Nevada where not only is there no presidential race — Trump’s urgent plea to pretend he’s on the ballot notwithstanding. There’s also no U.S. Senate race. For voters with a normal level of involvement in and attention to politics, which is to say not much, the only contests even approximating the status of an attraction are the governor’s race and the four U.S. House races.

At least there is a governor’s race this year. The last midterm with no Nevada U.S. Senate race, in 2014, Nevada Democrats didn’t even bother to field a candidate for governor; a guy nobody had heard of and who had no campaign was the Democratic nominee. The time before that, in 2002, Joe Neal was the Democratic candidate, but the cornerstone of his agenda was raising the gaming tax, so naturally the state Democratic Party (Harry Reid, proprietor) provided Neal no support whatsoever, and there was never any question that Republican Kenny Guinn would be reelected.

So to reiterate, this year at least the Democrats showed up for the governor’s race.

Meanwhile, the races for three U.S. House seats in Southern Nevada have been largely uneventful this year. Given the fundamentals of the election (the aforementioned Fiasco in Chief and his hot steaming pile of omnishambles) and Republicans’ poor candidate quality, none of the Democratic incumbents are in readily apparent danger of losing their seats. 

At least the voters in rural and Northern Nevada are treated to the entertaining spectacle of many Republicans disavowing the railroad accident that is David Flippo, their party’s congressional nominee.

Nevada has grown accustomed to being one of the few “battleground” states that are up for grabs when determining which party will control the White House, the Senate, or both. With none of that going on, the usual outrages and microscandals and blunders notwithstanding, the 2026 election cycle is a bit sleepy by comparison.

IN NEVADA CURRENT

And he had to add the “unfortunately.” Like a lot of Republicans around the country, Lombardo is walking a precarious tightrope by urging citizens to vote even while toeing the Republican party line that elections are not secure. Dana Gentry reports: ‘No place easier’ to vote than Nevada, ‘unfortunately,’ Lombardo says

Well ain’t they a pair? Whatever happens, Flippo will always be able to say that when the chips were down, not only did Trump stick by his endorsement of Flippo. So did Lombardo. My column: Your 2026 Nevada Republican marquee candidates: Lombardo and Flippo

Safe voting is no accident. The evidence in the case, the judge wrote, leads to an “objectively reasonable fear of law enforcement entanglements that intimidates citizens from urging or aiding others in exercising their right to vote.” Via the D.C. bureau: Judge blocks Homeland Security from conducting election-related sweeps in 9 states, including NV

Turns out the worst of the worst aren’t the people being deported, but the people doing the deporting. Via Stateline: Analysis: Trump deportations near 1M, but few are criminals

Good Luck