Election season is in full swing and Democrats are striving to gain even more control of the Nevada Legislature to become veto-proof against Republican Governor Joe Lombardo.
Democrats already hold a supermajority in the state assembly, with 28 out of 42 seats. In the state senate, they currently hold 13 out of 21 seats and only need to gain one more seat to reach a supermajority. If they achieve this, Governor Lombardo’s legislative influence will be greatly diminished.
In Reno, two Democrats are vying for the seat Senator Heidi Seevers Gansert is leaving vacant.
Gansert’s decision not to run for a third term comes after the 2021 redistricting process in which legislators redrew Gansert’s district to favor Democrats.
The nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project gives Nevada’s new congressional map an “F” grade for creating significant partisan advantage for Democrats.
“I think there is a simple way to explain why the Nevada legislature has been gerrymandered, or evidence of it being gerrymandered, when you look at the two statewide races during the 2022 election, we had a run for Governor. And, we also had a U.S. Senate race. Those are both statewide races. One was won by a Republican, Joe Lombardo. The other was won by a Democrat, Catherine Cortez Masto. So, essentially the state is purple. It was split,” explained Republican Senate Minority Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert.
“If you look at the makeup of legislature based on the gerrymandering that was done after the 2020 census it’s almost 2/3rds Democrats to Republicans. The reason that matters is because it takes two-thirds majority to either overrule a veto or to raise taxes. So the Democrats have been working to make sure the lines were drawn to their advantage,” explained Gansert.
Gansert tells us she is choosing not to run to spend more time with family after welcoming her first grandchild. So far no Republican candidate has come forward to compete for Gansert’s district.