Nevada
Nevada GOP congressional candidate leaves tight US House race to defend her state Assembly seat
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The establishment-backed Republican candidate for Nevada’s most competitive congressional district is dropping out of the race to defend her current seat in the state Assembly, she announced Thursday.
Heidi Kasama said she would focus on ending the Democratic supermajority in the Assembly rather than aiming for a seat in Washington. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s veto power would be significantly diminished in the next legislative session if Republicans are a superminority both in the Assembly and in the Senate, where Democrats are one seat shy of the override margin.
“I could not imagine myself in Washington, DC trying to fix Congress if Governor Lombardo faced veto-proof majorities in both chambers at home in Nevada,” Kasama said in a statement. “Any such victory would be a hollow one.”
The surprise decision, first reported by The Nevada Independent, leaves conservative policy analyst Drew Johnson, who lost a race for the Clark County commission by 336 votes, and former state Sen. Elizabeth Helgelien as the two Republicans vying to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, who was reelected last year by 4 percentage points over Republican April Becker. Both Johnson and Helgelien had raised significantly less money than Kasama.
The 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and unincorporated Clark County, has long been considered Nevada’s most competitive. Democrats have a slight edge in active registered voters, though independents make up the largest voting bloc in the district.
Kasama said in the statement that the decision to defend her Assembly seat came after discussions with both Lombardo and her family. Lombardo endorsed her moments after she announced that she would again campaign in the state’s 2nd Assembly District.
Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno, who is chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party, said in a statement that the move “makes it clear how worried extreme Republicans are about the strength of Susie Lee’s campaign.”
Kasama will face off in her Assembly primary against Clark County GOP Chair Jesse Law, who was indicted over his role as a “fake elector” for then-President Donald Trump following the 2020 election. He announced his candidacy last month, hours before he was indicted by the state attorney general.
Law, who has pleaded not guilty, faces felony charges that would bring between one and four or five years in prison, respectively.
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Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Stern on X, formerly Twitter: @gabestern326
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — An offender within the Nevada Department of Corrections system has died from a stabbing, officials said.
According to a press release from NDOC, Dylan Walters, 33, died at University Medical Center on Oct. 27. He was serving 16 to 40 months at High Desert State Prison for attempted grand larceny.
Officials said he came to NDOC on April 18 last year from Clark County. According to the coroner, he died from multiple stab wounds, and his manner of death was ruled as a homicide.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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