EDITORIAL: Unopposed runs a loss for voters

There are 10 candidates running against Rep. Dina Titus for the 1st Congressional District. In the 3rd District, six Republicans are challenging state Sen. Michael Roberson for the GOP nomination. In the 4th District, eight Democrats are fighting for the right to challenge Rep. Cresent Hardy, the Republican incumbent.

Oh, and there are 18 people running for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s seat as the longtime Democratic leader prepares to retire.

With all the interest in some offices, it’s almost unthinkable a candidate could run unopposed anywhere on the ballot. But four members of the Nevada Assembly will be re-elected to their seats without opposition, along with an incumbent regent and a newcomer seeking a regent’s seat.

Yes, gerrymandering is partly to blame: Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, enjoys a nearly 2-1 Republican voter-registration advantage in his district, which helps explain why no Democrats rose to challenge the controversial Republican. Elko Republican John Ellison has it even better: 15,244 Republicans to just 5,701 Democrats.

Down here in Clark County, unopposed Democrats Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, and Olivia Diaz, D-North Las Vegas, each have overwhelming Democratic voter-registration advantages in their seat.

But really, is that an excuse? Republicans — who won overwhelmingly Democratic seats in the “red tide” of 2014 — aren’t running away from districts where they face tough registration hurdles. Assemblywoman Shelly Shelton, R-Las Vegas, faces a nearly 2-1 registration disadvantage, but she’s still on the ballot. Assemblyman David Gardner, R-Las Vegas, isn’t letting the 1,700 more Democrats stop him from seeking re-election.

Similarly, Democrats are fighting to win majorities in the Assembly and Senate, too. They’ve fielded a candidate in Senate District 18, Alexander Justin Marks, who faces a slight Republican advantage in challenging incumbent state Sen. Scott Hammond. And Republicans are fighting to win Senate District 5 with a nearly 2,500-voter disadvantage, and keep Senate District 6, with a 2,800-voter deficit.

The point? In a representative democracy, neither political party should ever skip a race, even one with incredibly long registration odds, just because it looks too hard. Republicans were undoubtedly stunned at their good fortune in 2014, a year when many Democratic voters stayed home. If they’d simply run only in districts where the numbers were close, and ceded all the lopsided districts to their political opponents, they may not have taken control of the Assembly.

Politics can be a dirty and tough business. You’re subjected to attacks, only some of which have the virtue of truth. You’re subjected to a higher level of scrutiny than a citizen in private life. You must debase yourself by asking strangers for money to spend on your campaign. You have to walk neighborhoods in the blazing heat of summer to meet the voters of your district. And your reward? Long, grueling days and nights spent studying budgets, policy programs and the mechanics of government before you return to the campaign trail to do it all over again.

But just because a job is hard doesn’t mean we shrink from it. The major parties owe the voters a choice in each and every race. In a representative democracy, there should never be only one name on the ballot, for anything.