As Buck battles McDonald for GOP supremacy, Roberts and Whitmer lead unified Dem party in Nevada
At what point does a lawsuit become frivolous?
While the courts have not answered that with a definitive number, long serving Nevada GOP Party Chairman Michael McDonald believes that renegade Republican State Senator Carrie Buck has certainly approached, if not wholly, crossed the line into the area of vexatious litigant with her continued attempts to use the state's districts courts to undermine fellow Republicans across the Silver State.
When members of her own Clark County Republican Party central committee refused to bestow the title of Chairperson on Ms. Buck, she immediately ran to the state's Eighth Judicial District to overturn and undercut the overwhelming will of her own party's membership rolls. Unsuccessful in that endeavor at the county level, her next scheme unveiled itself this week, with an attack focused at the state level. Filing a lawsuit with the state’s Sixth Judicial District, her latest ill-fated legal maneuver was an attempt to freeze the fall meeting of state central committee Republicans in Winnemucca. Taking only a day to deliberate, Judge Michael Montero promptly dismissed her claims, paving the way for the gathering to continue unabated.
It is there where the aforementioned McDonald is expected to win re-election to his post. A victory would see him extend his tenure as Nevada's longest serving GOP Chair, but also place him at the helm of a party in the midst of tumult. With antagonistic actions and bitter recriminations not only spawning from Buck and her allies in the south but the departure of Washoe County’s Republican Chair, Michael Kadenacy, who in his resignation letter suggested the possibility of stunning levels of financial mismanagement by the state party, Michael McDonald’s next term will likely be fraught with the continuation of internal upheaval and continued visits to the courtroom by him and his allies.
While the conservatives in Nevada plot their next moves in an intractable battle for internal power and authority, Democrats have found unity and a potential pathway toward lasting electoral success.
Beginning in March with the inspiring and overwhelming victory of Judith Whitmer to the position of State Democrat Chair, July saw an even more stunning result in Nevada Democratic politics.
Chris Roberts, who in addition to his position as a respected leader among grassroots political activists, is a renowned IT expert and photo artist, ran for the post of the Clark County Democratic Party. And Mr. Roberts did so unopposed, as did every candidate who won a post on the Dem’s executive board, sans one. This remarkable achievement at the county level is now allowing for Chairperson Whitmer, who has fostered a strong working relationship with Mr. Roberts and his board, to bring a synergistic and holistic approach, full of ideas and values, to political races up and down the ballot in each of Nevada’s 17 counties.
While Democrats across Nevada have battled for years over approach and direction, the advent of an era of unified leadership between the State party and its largest County apparatus is bringing with it a renewed sense of vitality and vigor to a previously rudderless and moribund group which saw the previous leadership leave Ms. Whitmer with no money in the party’s coffers, and no staffers to help with even the most basic of tasks.
Upon assuming her office, knowing she was tasked with rebuilding an organization left in disarray, and with the 2022 election cycle approaching, Ms. Whitmer set out to accomplish a rapid revamp, understanding her party’s electoral prospects depended on it happening in a fiscally responsible, efficient, and streamlined manner. And for help with that she turned to her ally, Mr. Roberts. Together, in the face of unrelenting expectations and immense pressure, they resolved significant dilemmas, utilizing unique solutions, allowing for Democrats throughout Clark County and all of Nevada to be assured that success isn’t just achievable but expected.
With passions running at historic highs, and non-partisan voters flooding the state, the parties must be more responsive and accountable to their bases than ever, the only question is which of these respective bases will be looking to place the heads of their leaders under the guillotine.