THE SILVER LININGS FOR CONSERVATIVES
As predicted, the conservative candidates in the
high-profile races yesterday came up short and, as predicted, Nevada’s #2
liberal blogger, Jon Ralston, was
crowing with glee about a supposed “conservative massacre.”
Of course, Ralston’s depth of thinking is approximately that
of a parking lot puddle. He thinks
short-term; conservatives here are building for the long term. And last night was anything but a “massacre”
for conservatives in Nevada. Here’s the
real story that Ralston and the GOP establishment don’t want told…
Mark Hutchison, the
Million Dollar Man, got just a little over 50% of the vote for lieutenant
governor despite enjoying the full backing of a Republican governor who himself
got some 90% of the vote in a contested primary. How does winning a race you were expected to
win that shouldn’t have even been close count as a major win?
On the other hand, Ron
Knecht, conservative Tax Pledge signing candidate for Controller, won the
only other GOP primary for a statewide office.
So conservatives batted .500 in statewide primaries.
Not a bad average.
Conservative Tax Pledge signer Annette Teijeiro won the GOP primary for CD1.
The four moderates who ran as conservatives in the four
contested GOP state senate primaries won. Did I mention that all four moderates
ran as conservatives? Oh, and VASTLY
outspent their conservative opponents?
Indeed, running as conservatives, the establishment GOP
pretty much won all the races they should have won. Big whoop.
Meanwhile, conservative Assemblyman and Tax Pledge signer John Hambrick won his primary
handily.
As did conservative Assemblywoman and Tax Pledge signer Michele Fiore.
As did the conservative who Ralston and the GOP establishment
love to hate and ridicule the most, Assemblyman and Tax Pledge signer Jim Wheeler!
Conservative Tax Pledge signer Lisa Krasner held moderate incumbent Assemblyman Randy “Kirner Tax” Kirner to under 50%
in a multi-candidate GOP primary and will face him one-on-one again in the
general election since no Democrat or third-party candidates filed in this
race.
Indeed, if the two conservative candidates hadn’t split the
conservative vote in this race, Kirner would have been toast. And there’s a chance he still might lose in
November.
HUGE upset in Assembly District 31 in Washoe County, where
Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey’s
hand-picked moderate candidate, Sparks City Councilman Ron Schmitt – who was also endorsed by Gov. Sandoval and the rest
of the establishment elite - lost to conservative Tax Pledge signer Jill Dickman, who was VASTLY outspent
(but not outworked!).
And another HUGE conservative victory in rural Assembly
District 38 where another of Hickey’s hand-picked moderate candidates lost to
conservative Tax Pledge signer Dr. Robin
Titus.
Conservative Tax Pledge signer Brent Jones won the Assembly District 35 GOP primary.
Former Clark County GOP Chairman Richard Scotti made it to the general election for District Judge
in District 8, Department 2.
Judge Susan Johnson
stomped her opponent, who played the “race card” against another judge a week
ago, in the District 8, Department 22 race.
(Judge Johnson is also a FINE JUDGE of good wine!)
Joe Scalia moved
onto the general election in the District Court, Family Division, Department B
race.
Conservative newcomer Ralph
Krauss is going to the general election against Clark County School Board
trustee Carolyn Edwards.
And last, but certainly not least, former Clark County GOP
Chairman Cindy Lake won her primary
race for Clark County Commission District G.
So now the pressure’s on the establishment folks…
Sandoval & Company got the candidate they hand-picked
for lieutenant governor. They have no
excuse if they lose to the former gang-banger in November.
And Senate Minority Leader Moderate Mike Roberson won his primary and got the candidates he
hand-picked for the two contested seats that will determine which party
controls the upper house in next year’s Legislature, so he, too, will have no
excuse if he blows it.
As for Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey – well, he’s hopeless.
Hickey didn’t support Fiore, and she won. He tried to kill Wheeler, politically
speaking, and Wheeler won. His “yes man”
Kirner, didn’t win the GOP primary outright and now has to face a general
election run-off. He recruited a
candidate against Titus, and Titus won.
He recruited a candidate against Dickman, and Dickman won.
Yeah, I think we know who the biggest loser of the night
was…and it sure wasn’t conservatives.
Look, the only reason conservatives didn’t have a much
bigger night was the money and power the establishment brought to bear under
the wings of a moderate, though extremely popular, Republican governor – who,
by the way, won’t be running for governor again in 2016.
The establishment candidates ran as conservatives, lied
about their own records and positions on issues, and lied about their opponents’
records and positions. Yes, a win is a
win. But talk about winning ugly!
And something tells me a lot of the moderates who dodged
bullets on Tuesday who go on to win in November won’t be voting so much like
Democrats in Carson City next year. Moderates
have been warned and put on notice.
Those who don’t learn from this year’s lesson will just be primary bait
again next cycle.
And next cycle, they just might not be so lucky.
As I wrote previously, the 2014 GOP primaries weren’t the
end of the conservative/tea party/liberty movement in Nevada no matter what
happened at the ballot box. This was a building
year. It was just the beginning. To quote a certain former conservative U.S.
president, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
DRIVE-BY MUTHINGS
>>>>> “None of the Above” won
the Democrat primary for governor. I
mean, how embarrassing is THAT?
His conservative opponent, Richard Bunce, made some mistakes in his first campaign. If he learns from them and starts his 2016
campaign for this seat tomorrow, he’ll be the clear front-runner. But he has to look at what his campaign did
wrong and not blame the loss on last-minute hit pieces against his brother who
was running in the same voting pool.
>>>>> In the CD4 race between
the GOP establishment’s pick, Cresent
Hardy, and the conservative tea party candidate, Niger Innis, Hardy prevailed 42-33 percent. The really interesting thing here is that a
third candidate in that race – Mike Monroe
– who no one ever heard of or from, who has no Google footprint and who has no
photograph that anyone can put their hands on – pulled 22% of the vote.
How is that possible?
Because those folks weren’t voting for Monroe. They were voting against both Hardy and Innis.
And since there was no “None of the Above” option on the ballot, since
this was not a statewide race, the Monroe vote was a “pox on both your houses”
vote, not a vote for an unknown candidate.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“State Sen. Mark Hutchison won the Republican primary for
lieutenant governor Tuesday. But he could easily have lost. … If Lowden had
more money - her TV ads were amateurish - she might have more than bruised Hutchison
with those sharp elbows. But his fundraising advantage, aided by his
endorsement from Sandoval, along with a solid campaign work ethic, was too much
for her to overcome.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Steve
Sebelius
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