Fiore fights to keep Nevada Assembly leadership post

Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore released a defiant open letter to Assembly Speaker John Hambrick on Friday, questioning his authority to remove her as majority leader of the lower house.

Fiore insisted only members of the Assembly Republican Caucus could vote her out of the Nevada leadership job. She called a meeting of the 25-member GOP caucus for Monday afternoon in Carson City to hold another election.

“There is no rule in the Assembly Standing Rules that allows you to arbitrarily remove me from an elected Caucus position,” Fiore wrote in the letter, which Fiore distributed via her email list. “Neither have the members of the Caucus been presented with any evidence from any source that allows you to overrule my election by a majority of the Assembly Republican Caucus as the Majority Leader of the Caucus.”

She added, “You need to know that a sizable portion of the members of the Caucus still consider me the Majority Leader, as do I. I will be occupying my Majority Leader office January 5th.”

Assembly Republicans have been engaged in a power struggle since the GOP pulled off a major upset in the Nov. 4 election. Republicans won majority control of the body for the first time since 1985, winning 25 seats to 17 for Democrats.

Previously, Democrats held a 27-15 seat majority in the Assembly.

First, a conservative movement in the GOP caucus removed Assemblyman Pat Hickey of Reno from leadership and voted in Assemblyman Ira Hansen of Sparks as Assembly speaker. Hansen was later replaced by Hambrick, of Las Vegas, after critics pointed to Hansen’s racist and sexist writings as a Sparks Tribune columnist a couple of decades ago.

Hambrick then removed Fiore as chairwoman of the Assembly Taxation Committee. He cited a conflict because of an ongoing dispute she has with the Internal Revenue Service, which has placed $1 million in liens against her and her home health care business.

Hambrick temporarily reinstated Fiore, but changed his mind and not only removed her from the tax panel but also replaced her as majority leader with Assemblyman Paul Anderson of Las Vegas, an ally.

Majority leader is the No. 2 post in Assembly GOP leadership.

The IRS alleges Fiore didn’t properly pay all the payroll taxes owed, dating back to 2004. Fiore blamed an employee and said she is working with the IRS to settle any owed payroll taxes.

Fiore, who has signed a pledge not to raise taxes, also might have been removed from the tax committee because of her conservative views on such levies.

In her letter, Fiore said Hambrick was acting like a dictatorial leader.

“Your reasoning that you can remove me as Majority Leader is faulty, to say the least,” Fiore wrote, adding, “You were elected by the Assembly Republican Caucus as the Speaker-designee, not as an all-powerful potentate.”

Fiore said she “might not survive a new vote for majority leader, but that vote must be taken.”

“The January 5, 2015 meeting that you unilaterally canceled would have been the perfect time for that vote, and I urge you to reconsider,” Fiore wrote. “As the Majority Leader I’m calling that meeting. Our caucus will meet January 5th at 3:30 pm in our caucus room. It is in the best interests of the Caucus to bring this unfortunate incident to a conclusion.”

Hambrick has said he has the support of 17 of the 25 Republicans in the Assembly.

Hambrick didn’t respond to a request for comment on Fiore’s open letter.

On Thursday, Hambrick said in a text message to the Review-Journal that there would be no meeting of the Assembly Republican Caucus on Monday, although one had been tentatively scheduled.

Lawmakers are scheduled to be in Carson City on Monday to take part in the inauguration on the steps of the state Capitol along with GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval as well as the state’s constitutional officers — all of whom are Republicans — including the incoming lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and controller.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj