Eh, if any Republican can lose CD2, it’d be Flippo

Poor candidate quality can undermine fundamentals. That’s why Harry Reid’s campaign worked so hard to sink Sue Lowden in the 2010 Republican Senate primary, effectively assuring the nomination would be won by Sharron Angle. Full-on whackadoodle before whackadoodle was cool, Angle was the only Republican Harry Reid could beat in what was otherwise a bloodbath of a year for congressional Democrats. 

The main difference between Angle and 2026 NV CD2 Republican candidate David Flippo (see story below) might be that Angle actually had legislative experience.

Yes, this year promises to be a bloodbath for congressional Republican candidates. But no Democrat has ever won the ruby red Republican refuge that is CD2. Might one? I’ll believe it when I see it. 

As an aside, the residents of CD2 are currently represented in the United States House of Representatives by a subcommittee chair on the most powerful committee in the chamber. Not bad.

If Flippo wins, those residents will be represented by someone who will immediately rank among the most irrelevant persons in the United States Congress, and who shows very little promise of improvement or advancement, even if he’s still around when Republicans take back control of the House that they’re about to lose in this November’s election. Nice work, everyone.

IN NEVADA CURRENT

Flippo the grate. If James Settelmeyer, and not Flippo, had won the Republican primary in CD2, no one would be paying attention to this race, because everybody would be certain that the Republican lock on the district would easily remain intact. But Trump told Republican voters to nominate Flippo, and if any Republican can manage to lose CD2, it would be him. April Corbin Girnus with a periodic look at the lay o’ the land. CD2 race is more intriguing than it usually is. How much more competitive remains to be seen.

Trump’s Medicaid malice update: “Our notices explain who is affected, what qualifies as community engagement, how to report compliance, and how to request an exemption,” said a Nevada Medicaid official in a statement announcing the notification effort. “No one should lose coverage simply because they weren’t aware of the new requirement.” Busy April reports: Nevada Medicaid begins outreach effort over work requirements

The Lombardo way. If Gov. Joe Lombardo sincerely feels challenger Aaron Ford’s vote for a tax increase that passed with bipartisan supermajorities in both houses disqualifies Ford to be governor, how nauseating it must be for Lombardo to have all those Republicans who did so much to pass that tax increase working right under Lombardo’s nose. Just kidding. The more likely scenario, of course, is Lombardo himself doesn’t take the ads aired on his behalf seriously. In case you missed this column I put up over the weekend… Joe Lombardo and the largest tax increase in Nevada history

Also…

FEMA is off the chopping block. But disaster aid is still a guessing game. Trump has been far more willing to grant disaster declarations for Republican-led states, at 89%, while Democratic-led states have seen only 23% of their requests approved. So presidential. So classy. Like nobody’s ever seen before. Via Stateline.

Discontent will accompany blue‑collar voters to the polls in the midterms. And people wearing collars in all the other colors too, I’m guessing. Via The Conversation.

Good Luck