Primaries start now

It has begun.

Last week, Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman announced her 2016 candidacy for the state Senate District 6 seat currently held by appointed incumbent Mark Lipparelli, R-Las Vegas. It would be an understatement to say Seaman is not exactly a welcome addition to the field among the Republican establishment.

"I made promises to my constituents as a candidate when elected to the Assembly, and I kept my promises through my votes in the Legislature," Seaman, R-Las Vegas, said in an announcement message posted online. "Nevadans deserve their choice of a representative who will make sure their voices are heard in the Nevada Legislature."

The clear implication is that Nevadans currently don't have a choice of a representative who will make sure their voices are heard in the Nevada Legislature. Why, if we're not careful, we could jump to the conclusion that Seaman is attacking Lipparelli for his vote in favor of Gov. Brian Sandoval's tax plan! The announcement doesn't say specifically.

It does say Seaman was elected in 2014 "as a result of her extensive grassroots campaign and overwhelming bipartisan support." That's not entirely accurate: She was elected by 1,516 votes (out of more than 12,000 cast) and only after a judge ordered signs posted to declare Seaman's Democratic opponent ineligible because she wasn't a bona fide resident of the district.

But don't think the fact that Senate District 6 has slightly better voter-registration numbers lead you into thinking that Seaman is shopping for a friendlier forum. There's just more than 3,000 more active registered Democrats in the Senate district than there are Republicans, but there are only 3,554 more active Democrats than Republicans in her Assembly district currently. She's not buying herself that much of an advantage by opting to run for the upper house.

What she is doing — undoubtedly to the chagrin of the GOP establishment — is setting up the very first of what's sure to be a wave of conservative anti-taxer challenges to moderate pro-tax incumbents. And for the Republican caucus, that's not very helpful. The GOP is struggling to hold onto its hard-won, one-vote majority. Lipparelli's seat is one of three that will determine control of the Senate in the 2017 Legislature.

Democrats who lust for a return to the majority are welcoming the Seaman challenge. They say it illustrates a failure of GOP leadership to police the ranks and clear the field for their chosen candidates. (Lipparelli has not yet made up his mind about whether he'll seek election to the post in his own right, but if he does, he'd have the establishment caucus backing.) The Seaman challenge means money and attention spent in the primary that could otherwise have been mustered for the general.

But thus it always was: Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson faced a primary challenge in 2014, from Ron Paul supporter Carl Bunce. Becky Harris dispatched Vick Gill. Patricia Farley beat Clayton Hurst. And up in Reno, Ben Kieckhefer turned away Gary Schmidt.

The point is not that Roberson (and his newly selected Southern Nevada caucus chief Harris) can't discipline the party; the point is no one can. These primary challenges will be a regular feature of Republican primaries until the GOP can resolve the ongoing war between purist anti-tax, anti-government conservatives and moderates.

In the 2015 session, there was plenty of fighting between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. But they managed to form consensus on most issues. In the Assembly, a small faction of conservatives elected in the unlikely-to-be-repeated 2014 red tide was marginalized and ineffective. Voters will have to decide if that's what they want to see in the Senate, too. As Seaman said, they deserve a choice to ensure their voices are heard.

Steve Sebelius is a Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.