NEVADA VIEWS: Nevada voters should rebel against one-party rule in Carson City

“The Tale of Two Beasts” is a children’s book that I used to read to my kids to illustrate that there are two sides of every story. But how are the voters to know both sides when one side uses their absolute power to silence the other?

Democrats are the legislative gatekeepers in Carson City. They chair all the committees and they decide what bills are worthy of a vote. They can refuse to let policy ideas from their opponents receive public debate. Republicans make up 35 percent of the Legislature but only 7 percent of the bills passed last session were GOP initiatives.

Democrats have silenced all but the most benign Republican voices and bills. Any Republican who speaks out against the ruling party has been metaphorically thrown into solitary. In the 2023 legislative session, for example, I introduced a bill to protect the display of religious artifacts on doorframes in HOA communities. The Democratic chair of the Judiciary Committee refused to even hear the bill, claiming “we don’t make legislation for just one group.”

Such an excuse was transparently false. During the session, we saw the Assembly pass bills loaded with funding for organizations to which many Democrat lawmakers had direct personal or professional ties, which raised serious concerns that lawmakers were putting their own interests above those of Nevadans. The Republican-sponsored proposal to require voter ID — a policy supported by 70 percent of Nevadans — was never allowed a hearing. One Republican lawmaker had all his bills killed at the eleventh hour after he dared to speak out against the Democrats’ plan to introduce a multimillion-dollar budget in the middle of the night and rush through a hurried vote without adequate debate.

This dictatorial one-party rule goes well beyond Carson City. Lobbyists, the business community and donors are regularly threatened with punitive actions if they speak out against the ruling party. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Republicans, lobbyists and the business community have consented to their inferiority by consistently letting the Democratic majority in Carson City bully critics into silence — granting Democrats the kind of tyrannical rule over our legislative process usually found in single-party dictatorships.

Democrats have shown no interest in pursuing policy goals that require partnering with the minority. Instead, they’ve decided to use their control to silence all opposition, which disenfranchises Nevadans who don’t support their corrupt one-party rule. This is a primary reason for Gov. Joe Lombardo’s record-breaking 75 vetoes last year: Democrats simply didn’t expect a Republican to say “no” to their partisan agenda.

And he didn’t stop there. Since the last session, Lombardo has exposed the millions of taxpayer dollars Democrats funneled into nonprofits with direct ties to Democratic lawmakers. He brought to light the way Democrats have been partnering with organizations such as the Culinary union for partisan advantages. He has held powerful Democratic lawmakers accountable for taking lavish trips all over the world. The governor is drawing a line in the sand.

But Democratic leaders have made it clear they refuse to work with Gov. Lombardo (or anyone else) on a host of bipartisan issues, refusing to even let “the other side” have a real seat at the table.

I keep “The Tale of Two Beasts” on my desk in the capitol building to remind me there’s always two sides to a story. It’s obvious, however, that those in the Democratic leadership doesn’t agree with this life lesson as they routinely use their power to silence and disenfranchise any hint of opposition in the Legislature. Now is the time for Nevadans to stand up against this culture of corruption and bullying. It’s up to those of us who are interested in restoring political balance to say “no” to a corrupt one-party Legislature and ensure all Nevadans have a voice in Carson City.

Danielle Gallant, a Republican, represents District 23 in the Nevada Assembly.