* After her disastrous one-on-one debate with Ron DeSantis this week, Nikki Haley is now refusing to take questions from voters at campaign stops in Iowa while also backing out of next week’s one-on-one debate in New Hampshire.
* Not a good look.
* Haley, by the way, is the only major GOP candidate left standing whose name will appear on the February 6 Nevada primary ballot, while Trump, DeSantis & Vivek will be on the caucus ballot.
* Gonna be interesting, and potentially VERY embarrassing, if the Trump/DeSantis/Vivek supporters turn out for the primary and vote “None of the Above” instead of for Haley.
* Remember, in 2014 the Democrat candidate for governor in Nevada lost to “None of the Above” in the primary, so it’s not exactly unheard of. And Haley’s debate performance this week certainly didn’t help her any here.
* Meanwhile…
* Sam Brown, the leading GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada, came out with an endorsement of Donald Trump on Friday. A little surprising, but maybe not so much.
* Brown has raised over $3 million for his bid this time around for the same seat he lost in the 2022 primary to Trump-endorsed Adam Laxalt. And you’d think with that warchest that Trump would likely endorse the frontrunner.
* However, Jeff Gunter – a former Trump ambassador to Iceland who is challenging Brown in the primary – told attendees at the Battle Born Republican Women’s (BBRW) club meeting in Las Vegas last night that he expects to report this month raising over $1 million himself.
* Team Brown seems to fear that with Gunter’s past relationship with Trump, he might get Trump’s endorsement. And that endorsement, plus $1 million, could pose a threat to Brown’s campaign in the primary no matter how far ahead he appears right now.
* It appears Brown’s endorsement of Trump is a move to cut the knees out from under Gunter.
* And speaking of the BBRW, they were kind enough to invite me to be their speaker at last night’s dinner – and I want to thank them again for their hospitality and putting up with the fact that I almost lost my voice during the presentation.
* What a GREAT group of folks. And unlike some other organizations, they actually DO stuff – a lot of stuff! - to help elect Republican candidates. Thank you for what you do, and thank you President Jill Douglass for inviting me to spend some time with y’all.
* From an NBC News report on Friday: “[Nevada Gov. Joe] Lombardo’s folks are building a machine to replicate the [former Democratic Sen. Harry] Reid operation.”
* Fact Check: TRUE. That’s definitely something for Nevada Republicans to cheer about.
* The report also added: “In Nevada, Republican primary campaigns have essentially conceded the state’s caucuses to Trump, with DeSantis allies claiming the officials who are now under indictment sought to rig the elections in his favor.”
* Fact Check: TRUE.
* Last month, Nevada Democrats in the Legislature held up raises for Clark County school support staff hoping to put pressure on the Clark County School District which was in the midst of rather hostile contract negotiations.
* Key Democrats also meddled in the dispute by publicly calling for the resignation of the district’s superintendent. The dispute was settled a couple weeks later.
* Now get this!
* The very day after the settlement was announced, the teachers’ union lavished a $10,000 donation on Democrat Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannibizzaro, who is up for re-election this year.
* And a day after that, the teachers’ union boss’ PAC donated a whopping $40,000 to a PAC aligned with Democrat Sen. Rochelle Nguyen.
* The union boss behind all the ruckus characterized the timing of the donations as “purely coincidental.” And if you believe that, I have some lush farmland for sale in Death Valley.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“The Nevada GOP presidential caucuses are still weeks away and already they are a train wreck. … As reported in the Sun, none of the Clark County School District sites they list as caucus locations have yet been approved for use on February 8.
“The timing of the caucuses have left tens of thousands of swing-shift workers in Nevada’s booming hospitality industry, as well as those with evening community or family responsibilities, without a viable means of participating in the GOP presidential nominating process. …
“None of this chaos was imposed upon the Nevada Republican Party. Its leaders knowingly fought to host a private party-run nominating event that is ripe with opportunities for manipulation. And their sloppiness is so sweeping that now no one, even the GOP itself, knows where the caucuses will be held.” - Las Vegas Sun editorial, 1/12/24
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com. You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.