Sandoval next governor of Nevada
By David McGrath Schwartz, Las Vegas Sun
Republican Brian Sandoval was leading Democrat Rory Reid in Nevada’s race for governor, on the verge of adding to his impressive resume in public office and continuing his rise in Nevada politics.
Sandoval was winning with 52 percent of the vote over Reid, the Clark County commissioner, with 44 percent of the vote. Sandoval, from Reno, beat Reid in Clark County early voting by 5,000 votes, a bad sign for the Democrat.
Brian Sandoval
Sandoval, 47, had a cagey, if cynical, campaign strategy regarding the state’s budget crisis: He promised no new taxes, not to extend $1 billion in taxes set to sunset in June, and to veto any budget the Legislature passed with tax increases. But he refused to say what he’d cut. The state faces a budget deficit estimated as high as $3 billion.
He pivoted to his resume — assemblyman, gaming control board member, attorney general and federal judge — and a message of hope, with a campaign slogan “A Reason to Believe Again” and telling voters in his closing ads “I’m optimistic.”