Democrats reluctant to challenge Sandoval
By Anjeanette Damon, Las Vegas Sun
Election after election, Democrats in Nevada have demonstrated they have the superior party apparatus.
Democrats can count the ways they have the upper hand in Nevada’s political landscape: 100,000 more registered voters than Republicans; a well-funded, professionally staffed party organization; and a proven turnout machine.
Oh, and Democrats have demographics on their side, too, as Nevada’s population has grown largely more Hispanic and more urban in the past decade.
So with all of that going for them, why haven’t Democrats been able to cough up a candidate to take on Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval in next year’s top-of-the-ballot race?
Well, they keep coming up with candidates like Shelley Berkley, Dina Titus, Steven Brooks. . . it’s not easy to come up with good candidates (from either party) who don’t have a little taint of crazy on ’em in this state.
Not to mention, the north doesn’t like what the southern politicians are up to, and the south thinks the north is all ignorant country bumpkins. Not much unity in NV. Which is actually beneficial to the liberty of the people.
There is still an element in Nevada that would just as soon see the Capitol moved to Las Vegas (the State has a large administrative presence there already), as the implication is correct – Northern Nevada is thought to be a drain on what the South thinks they need. . . Governor Sandoval was recruited by some key players away from his lifetime-term as a Federal Judge, and that kind of influence would be hard to overcome for Democrats, as their “support” is newer and less established, beyond what the “demographics” suggest. . .
The only thing Northern Nevada has that Southern Nevada wants is the rural n.eastern aquifer. They’re working on stealing that right now, if anybody cares.