Nevada
Looking back, Richard Bryan recalls more genteel era in politics in Nevada and the nation
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Richard Bryan won the first political contest he ever ran, for 8th grade class president at John S. Park Elementary School.
That was his first entry into a political career that would take him from the Nevada Legislature, to the office of the attorney general to the governor’s mansion and finally to the United States Senate.
He recounts that storied career in a new book, “My Life in Nevada Politics,” penned with award-winning Nevada writer and columnist for the Nevada Independent John L. Smith.
Longtime locals will recognize many famous names, the people behind streets, schools and government buildings, and newcomers will learn that many of the things they take for granted started with the ambitious Bryan, who says he set his sights on the governor’s mansion early in his grade-school career.
In an interview, Bryan recalls arriving in Carson City as a Democrat in 1968 to an Assembly newly controlled by Republicans. But the experience was not partisan.
“Part of the general collegiality, I believe, was derived from the building itself,” Bryan says in the book. “It was crowded, and we had no offices to retreat to. Only the leaders of each house had them. Legislators did not have a personal staff. You brought your work with you to your desk on the floor and shared from a pool of secretaries after the morning business was concluded. Everyone had to work around everyone else’s schedule. There was no cafeteria. That meant there was mingling on the floor during breaks.”
That meant getting to know other lawmakers, ones from other parties and from other parts of the state, which led to genuine friendships between lawmakers and cooperation in solving the problems the state faced.
But that collegiality faded over time, in Washington, D.C. and, to a lesser extent, in Carson City. In an interview, Bryan traces the unraveling to the election in 1994 of Georgia Congressman Newt Gingrich as Republican speaker of the House of Representatives. Gingrich discouraged Republicans from socializing with Democrats because he considered them rivals and not friends.
“The scholars I’m sure have their view,” Bryan said. “Mine is Newt Gingrich, by the way, a very intelligent and capable guy. But his predecessor … was of the old school, let’s work together. Gingrich believed that what was needed was not some modification but to take the structure down and build it again. And that was very partisan.”
The partisanship is part of the reason that Bryan decided after two terms in the. U.S. Senate not to run for re-election in 2000. His replacement? One of Gingrich’s House revolutionaries from the 1994 election, Republican John Ensign.
During his career, Bryan faced the bitter sectionalism that has plagued Nevada for decades. In college, he was initially rebuffed as his fraternity’s pledge president because he was from Las Vegas. But by making incessant trips to rural Nevada — and participating in traditional rural Nevada events — Bryan won over northern constituents. In his 1986 bid for governor, Bryan won every county in the state, something unprecedented in present-day Nevada politics.
In his time, Bryan also assembled an impressive list of firsts:
- He was the first lawyer to head up the then-newly created public defenders office.
- He was behind some of the state’s first conflict-of-interest laws.
- He signed the bill creating the Nevada Film Office.
- He opened a state trade office in Japan.
- He hired the first woman to serve as chief of staff in the governor’s office, Marlene Lockard.
- He brought the National Finals Rodeo to Las Vegas.
- He got the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act passed.
Key to getting many of those things done was compromise, which Bryan considers a lost art because he says too many modern politicians think it requires you to surrender your principles.
“I never felt that,” Bryan said. “I guess among my critics I might have been too much of a pragmatist. What does it take to get this done? How can we work this out? Now, I wasn’t always successful. Sometimes, I mean, you had people kind of dug in and boy, there was not ability to do that.”
Bryan traces his path into public service to his father, who also held office.
“I think every citizen has an obligation, as he [Oscar Bryan] said, to pay your civic rent, to be involved. I like public service. Not everybody needs to do that. I think there’s something that’s fundamental. One, set your goal. Set your goal, work to it. … The point there is that everybody’s had a setback in their life, whatever it is, that could be a learning experience. It was for me.”
Bryan acknowledges that it would be difficult to campaign today as he did in the 1970s and 1980s, with the advent of social media, the 24-hour news cycle, the explosion of Nevada’s population and the increased partisanship that shuts out centrist candidates in favor of louder, more strident members of the fringe.
“I must say, it’s such a sad thing because it’s really harder today to get good people to run, Republican, Democrat, independent, whatever, because they’re saying, ‘I just don’t want to go through that.’”
Nevada
Nevada attorney general joins multi-state lawsuit over SNAP benefit cuts during government shutdown
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Tuesday he is joining a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration over cuts to federal food assistance benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown.
As the shutdown enters its fourth week, approximately 500,000 Nevadans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, face uncertainty about their November benefits. Our state typically receives around $90 million per month in federal SNAP funding.
WATCH | Anyssa Bohanan breaks down some of the ways the shutdown is affecting Southern Nevadans
Nevada SNAP to go without funding as government shutdown stretches on
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says on their website that SNAP benefits will not be distributed starting Nov. 1, stating “the well has run dry” and pointing to Senate Democrats as the reason for the shutdown. Nationally, SNAP helps approximately 42 million Americans.
WATCH | Scripps News speaks with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins about the ongoing shutdown, impact to SNAP benefits
Agriculture secretary says emergency fund isn’t enough to cover SNAP benefits
However, attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia argue the USDA is making a “deliberate” decision to withhold contingency funds that exist for exactly this scenario.
RELATED STORY | DoorDash, restaurants offer free help as SNAP funding lapses during shutdown
“The Trump Administration’s choice to cut SNAP benefits is not only a deliberate, cruel and extraordinarily harmful decision, it is unlawful. And the reason it cites — the ongoing federal government shutdown — is inadequate,” Ford said in a news release.
In an agency memo obtained by Scripps News, the USDA says they are saving more than $5 billion in contingency funds for more immediate emergencies like “hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.” Further, the agency says the appropriations for regular monthly benefits do not exist anymore due to the shutdown, and they will not reimburse states who try providing benefits themselves.
“Contingency funds exist for this exact scenario, yet the USDA has decided to abdicate its responsibility to Nevadans and refused to fund SNAP benefits. I understand the stress of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, because I’ve lived it. I don’t wish that stress on any Nevadan, and I’ll fight to be sure nobody in our state goes hungry. I urge Governor Lombardo to do the same and to work with his party and President Trump to ensure that Nevadans receive their SNAP benefits,” Ford continued.
Gov. Joe Lombardo has urged the federal government to end their standstill, citing its harmful effects on Nevada in letters sent our federal delegation, specifically over SNAP.
In the 51-page lawsuit, attorneys general claim the lapse in SNAP benefits would bring more harm beyond just those who rely on the program, but also local governments, school systems and food pantries as their supplies can’t meet the spike in demand.
WATCH | Steve Sebelius speaks with local food pantry over the SNAP benefit crisis
Members of Congress, Governor Trade Letters Over SNAP amid Shutdown
Ford joins attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin in the lawsuit. The governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania have also joined the suit.
The Nevada Air National Guard in Reno will unveil a 53-foot Christmas tree on Tuesday — a Nevada-grown red fir that will travel across the country to the U.S. Capitol Building.
According to a news release from the Nevada Air National Guard, the tree was grown in the Carson Ranger District and has been temporarily housed at its Reno base. The Guard transported the tree on Sunday for decoration ahead of its whistle-stop tour through Nevada and beyond.
The tree will also appear in Carson City for the Nevada Day Parade on Saturday before continuing its journey east.
The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree initiative is a 55-year tradition in which one of America’s 154 national forests provides a tree for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol during the holiday season.
Jim Kaufmann, executive director of Capitol grounds and arboretum at the architect of the Capitol, selected this year’s tree from nine candidates identified by Forest Service staff in the Carson Ranger District in northern Nevada and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area outside Las Vegas.
“Selecting a tree to adorn the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol is a great honor,” Kaufmann said in a previous Forest Service release. “Forest Service staff showed me nine wonderful candidates during my visit. Ultimately, we selected a magnificent red fir to represent the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Nevada at the U.S. Capitol during the 2025 holiday season.”
The red fir, or Abies magnifica, grows at higher elevations and is known for its blue-green needles that point upward and dense, sturdy branches — ideal for displaying ornaments, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
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