Nevada
Democracy Dies In Darkness: Nevada Democrats Refuse Ethics Reforms – Nevada Globe
By design, Nevada’s legislative body is exempt from open records requests, further shielding lawmakers from scrutiny or transparency. In 2015, legislators approved a bill cementing their immunity, which shields their calendars, emails and communications from public records requests.
As a result, numerous ethical scandals have plagued legislative Democrats, forcing three state legislators to vacate their reelection campaigns. Despite the “Culture of Corruption,” not one Democratic official or candidate will support reforms that would inspire transparency, trust, and accountability.
For background, as reported extensively by The Globe, are the 2023 lowlights:
Assemblywoman Michele Gorelow (AD-35) was the first Democratic lawmaker who decided not to run for re-election when it was revealed that $250,000 was funneled to Arc of Nevada, a nonprofit where Gorelow accepted a job as a director after she voted for the “Christmas tree bill.” In total, the bill directed $100 million to various Democrat-aligned nonprofits. Gorelow is only one of two employees for the organization. According to financial reports, the largest, single donation to this nonprofit is $50,000, so this $250,000 is five times more than any donation the organization has received since its founding.
Adding to the grift is Gorelow’s Democratic colleague Tracy Brown-May (AD-42) who serves on the board of Arc and voted to approve the appropriation without disclosing her association with the organization. To date, Brown-May is absent in that she has not commented or publicly acknowledged the scandal and deleted her X account. Brown-May is running for reelection.
Assemblyman C.H. Miller (AD-7) also announced he was dropping out of his re-election campaign after it was exposed by the Review-Journal that he failed to disclose that he was hired as the President and CEO of the Urban Chamber of Commerce before he voted to appropriate $100,000 on Chamber’s behalf.
Assemblywoman Bea Duran (AD-11), a Culinary Union activist, announced she was dropping her re-election bid in order “to spend more time with her family” after she came under pressure for voting on a “Christmas Tree” bill that allocated $25 million to the Culinary unknown for an unknown “capital improvement project.”
Senator Marilyn Dondero-Loop (SD-8) suddenly scrubbed any mention of her affiliation with the United Way of Southern Nevada from her legislative bio after the Review Journal exposed that she and the Chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno admitted that they “sat down and compared notes to determine which organizations would get money.” Monroe-Moreno further admitted admitted she was “instrumental” in the formation of the Christmas Tree bill and the distribution of funds. The United Way of Southern Nevada received $1.2 million for “public health, education, and improving economic mobility.”
Speaker Steve Yeager voted for a bill to benefit his law firm without disclosing his conflict of interest.
Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui works for a “progressive” public relations firm and doesn’t disclose her clients.
Senate Leader Nicole Cannizzaro sponsored a bill giving $25 million to her unregistered lobbyist husband’s union client without disclosing it.
Assemblywoman Shea Backus served on the board of an organization that defrauded the state of Nevada and didn’t disclose her role until she got caught.
David Colborne of the Nevada Independent did a little digging and found that Assemblywoman Venicia Considine (AD-18) voted in favor of bills that directed over $4,250,000 to the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada where she works as the director of Development and Community Relations.
The Review-Journal reported that Democratic Senator Dina Neal (SD-4) was under investigation after a College of Southern Nevada professor claimed she had pressured him to direct federal money toward businesses that didn’t meet grant requirements, including one owned by her friend. Later that month, the Review-Journal reported that North Las Vegas city officials met with law enforcement regarding concerns Neal had used campaign funds to pay a $20,000 lien on her home. Neal has since created a legal defense und and made her X account private.

Due to these ethics scandals, the Las Vegas Review-Journal asked every incumbent and candidate this question:
“Should the Legislature be subject to the open meeting law and the Nevada Public Records Act? Why or why not?”
Not one Democrat incumbent said yes and most refused to respond, with the exception of Shea Backus who said “no.”
Those hoping for answers from Democratic candidates seeking to join the legislature will be equally disappointed. Ryan Hampton, Jennifer Atlas, Sharifa Wahab, and Joe Dalia all refused to answer the question.
“Nevadans are sick of corrupt politicians who profit off public life and put themselves before the people who elected them,” said Better Nevada PAC spokesman John Burke. “Democrats in our legislature won’t change and the candidates they’ve recruited will only continue to service their corrupt status quo. Remember their names. Vote them out.”
Nevada
$64M approved for expanding attainable housing in Nevada
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — More than $64 million has been approved to expand attainable housing opportunities in Nevada, Gov. Joe Lombardo announced last week.
Funding comes from the Nevada Attainable Housing Account, which was created by AB 540 last year. Lombardo’s office says this money will spur the development of 358 for-sale homes and 1,208 multi-family apartments across the state.
That includes seven apartment, home and townhome complexes in Southern Nevada, totaling just over 1,000 units combined, according to the governor’s office.
The Nevada Attainable Housing Council also approved an additional $3 million for homeownership opportunities and more than $9 million in local government matching funds.
Lombardo said this funding will kickstart development and homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families around the Silver State.
“I’ll continue working to cut red tape, advocate for more federal land, deliver housing assistance, and fight for hardworking Nevadans to realize their dream of a safe and secure place to call home,” the governor said in a statement.
Nevada
Nevada trooper fires through window after driver points gun during traffic stop
A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper shot at a person who they say pointed a gun at them during a traffic stop early Sunday, according to a news release.
Troopers stopped a driver near the southbound Interstate 15 on-ramp at St. Rose Parkway at 12:48 a.m for failing to stop at a red light, according to Nevada State Police release. During the stop, the troopers saw signs of impairment and asked the driver to exit their vehicle.
The driver refused the trooper’s directions and pointed a firearm at the troopers, according to the release. The trooper shot their gun into the driver’s side window. The driver was taken into custody and to the hospital, then booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
No serious injuries were reported for the driver or the troopers. Police did not name the individual in the release.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Nevada
Billionaires are fleeing California for Nevada — and not for the nightlife
The most expensive condo sale in the Las Vegas area closed in early January for $21 million. If the sale of the 5,000-square-foot penthouse about 15 miles from the Las Vegas Strip had closed just a little more than a week earlier, it potentially could have saved the buyer a few hundred million dollars.
“He was looking for a while, and at the last minute, there was a little bit of a hiccup,” real estate agent Ivan Sher told Business Insider of the sale. “He was actually even under contract significantly before then.”
That “he” is billionaire Don Hankey, the chairman of Hankey Group and a lifelong Californian worth a reported $8.2 billion.
Hankey is one of a handful of Californians who have decided leave the state due to the proposed Billionaire Tax Act — a bill that would subject California residents worth more than $1 billion to a one-time tax worth 5% of their assets. For someone like Hankey, that’s about $410 million.
“I just felt a little bit like I wasn’t wanted,” Hankey told Forbes of why he chose to leave California.
trekandshoot/Getty Images
While Hankey may still be on the hook for the billionaire tax — the bill will be on the ballot in November 2026 and would retroactively tax individuals who were living in California on January 1, 2026 if passed — Nevada has welcomed Hankey and other high-net-worth individuals with open arms.
For the ultrawealthy ready to ditch California, but not the West Coast, Nevada offers a happy medium. With tax perks similar to Florida’s — no income tax and low property taxes — Nevada is slowly becoming the next nerve center for the rich.
Nevada’s luxury market is growing
Sher, who repped Hankey’s $21 million penthouse sale on both sides as the founder of real estate agency IS Luxury, said that while Las Vegas’ luxury market was already heating up, the news out of California kicked it into a higher gear.
“If people were to ask me what percentage of my buyers were from California, I’d say probably about 25%, and then for the first few years after COVID, that number was closer to 80%,” Sher said. “As soon as that billionaire tax was proposed, the exodus began again — but at a much higher level.”
The Las Vegas metropolitan area had about 331 millionaire households in 2019, according to RentCafe data. In 2023, that number jumped 166% to 879 households.
Natalia Harris has been selling ultra-luxury real estate in the Las Vegas area for the last five years. In that time, she said the definition of “ultra-luxury” has changed in the Silver State.
“Back then, a home that was $10 million was ‘Wow’ for Vegas — that was at the top of the price point,” Harris told Business Insider. “Now we have three new listings that we just brought to market last week that are all between $11 million and $20 million.”
Zain Aziz, the founder of technology firm Atom and one of Harris’ high-net-worth clients, moved to the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nevada, in 2025. He said leaving the high taxes and hectic lifestyle of Silicon Valley behind was bittersweet.
“You don’t really want to get punished if you do good and you create more jobs,” Aziz said. “I believe the Las Vegas Valley has become more and more what’s synonymous with what California used to be — which was free-spirited and ‘Come and achieve the impossible,’” he added.
Aziz isn’t the only one taking his assets elsewhere. Google cofounder Sergey Brin recently spent $42 million on a Lake Tahoe home on the Nevada side, according to Bloomberg. Larry Page, Google’s other cofounder, found a tax haven on the East Coast, buying two properties totaling about $173 million in South Florida.
Billionaire Larry Ellison, who owns homes across the country and the world, bought a handful of properties in Lake Tahoe near the California-Nevada border. He also recently sold his San Francisco home for $45 million in the largest sale in the area in 2025, according to the San Francisco Standard.
Ultra-rich Californians would rather do business one state over
Has California lost its juice?
Aziz, who also moved his business to Nevada, said the culture that built California giants like Oracle and Google no longer exists there — it’s budding in the next state over.
“There’s no longer that innovative culture, and I believe where it exists is Vegas,” Aziz said. “I think that a lot of people from California who are chasing that are going to move to Vegas primarily because of the proximity to California.”
4kodiak/Getty Images
For lifelong Californians not fully ready to leave the state’s sunny weather and stellar beaches behind, Las Vegas is a less than two-hour flight to Los Angeles or San Francisco.
It also helps that certain areas of Nevada can offer a taste of home. Harris described the MacDonald Highlands neighborhood of Las Vegas, which is about 15 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, as the Hollywood Hills of Vegas, offering stunning mountain views that give way to a sparkling cityscape beneath.
For Aziz, the developments in Nevada represent promise.
“This will become the hub for the wealthiest,” he said. “The city wants that.”
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