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
Nevada
Billionaire Tax Refugees Flock to Ritzy Nevada Lake Town
Nevada
EDITORIAL: Nevada hurt by California’s anti-fossil fuel crusade
California Gov. Gavin Newsom won’t admit it, but a move by President Donald Trump is especially helpful to drivers in California — and Nevada.
Gasoline prices are pressuring consumers around the country. On Friday, the average U.S. price was $4.55 a gallon. In California, that would be a bargain. The average there was $6.16 a gallon. Nevada’s average was $5.23 a gallon, the result of around 88 percent of the state’s gasoline coming from California.
It might be getting worse — regardless of what happens in Iran.
In recent months, two major California refineries have shut down. That represented a 17 percent reduction in California’s refining capacity. Their closures weren’t caused by the Iran war, but by Gov. Newsom and California’s relentless attacks on fossil fuels.
To make up for the fuel it won’t extract or refine in-state, California depends on imports from foreign countries.
“We are importing 30 percent of our crude oil from the Middle East,” Mike Ariza, a former control board supervisor at the Valero Benicia Refinery, said in an interview. He has been warning the public about California’s potential fuel shortage. “There are not very many ships left on the way that have fuel,” he said last month.
Last week, KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported that “about 2 million barrels of oil are in the process of being unloaded in Long Beach off of the last California-bound tanker that got through the Strait of Hormuz.”
At a California legislative hearing Tuesday, Siva Gunda, the vice chairman of the California Energy Commission, said the state has enough gasoline to accommodate demand for the next six weeks. That’s not a very long time, especially given that it takes weeks or months for oil to travel from the Middle East to California. And that process won’t begin until the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
There is a region, however, with abundant oil available for sale and safe passage — the southeastern United States. Unfortunately, the Jones Act, an antiquated 1920 law, mandates that only U.S.-flagged ships may move cargo between U.S. ports. But only 55 of the more than 7,000 oil tankers worldwide comply with this requirement.
This is where Mr. Trump rode to the rescue. Late last month, the White House announced Mr. Trump would suspend the Jones Act for another 90 days. In March, he originally waived it for 60 days. This will make it easier for California and Nevada to obtain domestic product.
If only Mr. Trump could also suspend the destructive energy policies imposed by Gov. Newsom and California Democrats.
Nevada
Nevada SPCA brings adoptable pet to spotlight for Furever Home Friday
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — An adoptable pet is in the spotlight for “Furever Home Friday,” with Amy from the Nevada SPCA featured in a segment highlighting an animal available for adoption today.
The Nevada SPCA encouraged viewers looking to add a pet to their family to consider adopting.
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