Losing Nevada Democrats: I’ll be back

I’ll be back.

That’s the message a handful of Democratic candidates delivered after suffering losses in Tuesday’s election.

“Despite this setback, I plan to stay active and involved in the affairs of our state,” Lucy Flores emailed her supporters the day after the Democratic assemblywoman lost the lieutenant governor’s race to state Sen. Mark Hutchison, R-Las Vegas. “I know what it’s like to find adversity and obstacles in my way, and instead of turning back, face and overcome them.”

Flores, 35, campaigned in part on her personal story of overcoming her teenage years when she ran with a North Las Vegas gang and stole cars, which landed her in juvenile detention. She turned her life around, however, got her GED, went to college and then to law school.

In 2010, she was among the first class of Latina lawmakers to win election to the Nevada Assembly.

Her story captured the imagination of national publications, which touted her as a rising Latina star.

“The future remains bright so long as we come together and continue to work toward what we believe will make Nevada a better place to live and work,” Flores said in her email.

Other Democrats who are expected to make a comeback include U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., who lost his 4th Congressional District to Assemblyman Cresent Hardy, R-Mesquite, thanks in part to a GOP wave of support that put Republicans in charge of the governorship and both the state Senate and Assembly. The district, which encompasses northern Clark County and all or part of six rural counties, leans Democratic by voter registration.

Horsford, 41, could run for the congressional seat again in 2016 and have a fairly good chance to win the job back, especially if there’s a strong Democratic presidential candidate. U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to run for re-election, too, and he’s sure to try to bolster a Democratic Party machine that could carry him to victory and pull others across the winning finish line with him.

Ross Miller is another Democrat whose star fell Tuesday but who is expected to try for a comeback. Miller, the outgoing secretary of state, lost the attorney general’s race to Republican Adam Laxalt, an attorney and former Navy judge advocate general. Laxalt, who served in Iraq, is the grandson of former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev.

Miller’s father is former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller, who served a record 10 years. Miller, 38, has ambitions to be governor, as well, and could run for that office in 2018, or try to oust Laxalt that year instead for a little political payback.

On election night, Miller appeared glum after the election upset, even as his Twitter followers urged him to stay in public office.

“I’m not going to sleep without an update @rossjmiller,” one followers said as the clock approached midnight.

“Finished 2nd my friend … appreciate the help,” Miller answered.

In his concession speech, Miller said he was going to go home and think about what’s next. He said he wants to do public service in some capacity, telegraphing he didn’t plan to go quietly into the night.

“We worked as hard as we possibly could,” he said in his speech.

A couple of days later, Miller tweeted that he was glad he ran: “I’m so grateful for the friends I developed throughout this campaign. Despite the outcome, it was so rewarding … thank you for the support.”

Miller’s loss seemed especially shocking to Nevada Democrats.

State Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, predicted Miller would make a comeback as well as Assemblyman Jason Frierson, one of the lawmakers in the lower house who lost in an upset, throwing control to Republicans who picked up 10 seats for a 25-17 seat advantage.

“wow, our future governor @rossjmiller and future speaker @jasonfrierson suffer temporary setbacks,” Segerblom tweeted.

State Sen. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, is another Democrat expected to seek public office again. He lost his Senate District 9 seat to Republican Becky Harris, giving control of the Senate to Republicans, who now have an 11-10 seat edge.

In his concession speech at the MGM, Jones grew emotional, saying the loss resulted in part because Democrats didn’t show up at the polls to show their support.

“There was unfortunately a wave of apathy that ran through the entire country,” Jones said.

— Laura Myers

HISPANIC VOTE

If only Hispanic voters had shown up in force, some Democratic candidates might have won close races Tuesday.

Overall turnout in Nevada was 45.51 percent, the lowest rate in a general election here since 1978. Republicans cast more ballots than Democrats, who largely stayed home in the midterm election.

Statistics aren’t yet available for the Latino voter turnout in the election, but an exit poll taken by Latino Decisions showed that Hispanics who voted picked the Democratic candidate most of the time.

Even popular Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, Nevada’s first Hispanic governor, didn’t win the Latino vote against his little-known Democratic opponent, Bob Goodman, although the governor got more than 70 percent of the vote for his re-election.

According to the Latino Decisions exit poll, 52 percent of Latinos voted for Goodman and 47 percent for Sandoval.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, Latinos favored Democrat Lucy Flores over Republican Mark Hutchison 71 percent to 23 percent.

In the congressional races, Latino voters in Nevada favored the Democrat over the Republican by a 72-25 margin.

— Laura Myers

RETIRE REID CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

Conservatives who enjoyed a landslide victory across the country Tuesday aren’t resting on their laurels. Now they have U.S. Sen. Harry Reid in their sights, just in case he runs for re-election in 2016 as expected.

The Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest Tea Party political action committee, joined with former Nevada Republican candidates, statewide leaders and other national Tea Party organizations in Las Vegas on Thursday to launch the Retire Harry Reid 2016 Campaign.

“The victories of this week are historic. Thanks to a unified effort in Nevada and around the country, Republicans now control 70 legislative chambers and hold 32 lieutenant governorships, and 29 secretaries of state,” said Tea Party Express Executive Director Taylor Budowich during a press conference at The Venetian.

“Republicans control more chambers and hold more state legislative seats than at any point in the history of our nation. Moreover, they’ve secured control of both houses of Congress.

“On Tuesday night the country fired Harry Reid from his job as Senate majority leader,” Budowich said.

“Now, by unifying around a common goal in 2016, we will retire Harry Reid once and for all. This race will be ground zero for the entire conservative movement as we look to keep Nevada red.”

Joining in the event were Niger Innis, a former GOP candidate for the 4th Congressional District and executive director of the TeaParty.net; Danny Tarkanian, a former GOP U.S. Senate candidate who sought to challenge Reid in 2010; and Wayne Allyn Root, author and former Libertarian vice presidential candidate, among others.

Reid deputy communications director Kristen Orthman said recently that Reid is running for re-election in 2016.

And defeating him might be easier said than done. Different polls suggested Reid would lose his re-election bid in 2010 to GOP candidate Sharron Angle. The polls were wrong.

— Sean Whaley

BALLOT BATTLES PART II?

Citizen Task Force For Voter Rights doesn’t want election officials to certify the votes that were cast for two ineligible Democrats who ran for the state Assembly.

The organization on Wednesday filed a complaint with the Nevada attorney general’s office asking for an investigation and citing concerns about election officials who “wrongfully certify invalid votes after elections.”

The organization describes itself as a nonpartisan group of “concerned Nevada voters.”

Regardless of what becomes of the complaint or the ballots, it won’t change the outcome of either election. District judges determined that the two candidates were ineligible to run because they failed to meet the residency requirements — Jess “Jake” Holder in District 10 and Meghan Smith in District 34.

Neither one won, and both candidates still had their names on the ballot because the court rulings came late in the election cycle.

Smith lost to Republican Victoria Seaman, and Holder was defeated by Republican Shelly Shelton, by 68 votes.

Both Holder and Smith have disputed the court rulings and findings of ineligibility.

Bob Frank, chairman of the organization that filed the complaint, said the issue at hand isn’t about partisan politics.

He said it’s important that state authorities “clear up the ambiguity.”

“We thought it would be good to clean up the issues,” he said.

— Ben Botkin

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1. Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj.