Over the past two years, the Nevada Democratic Party—once, under the tutelage of Harry Reid, one of the most formidable political machines in the country—has been split by divisions. in 2021, a pro-Bernie Sanders group managed to take over the state party and capture key positions. Subsequently, Reid’s allies walked in, taking key voter data, hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and high-level staff, who regrouped under the auspices of the Washoe County Democratic Party (Washoe is home to Reno, the second largest city in the state). . It proceeded to establish the National Democratic Victorywhich Sanders supporters were quick to denounce as a shadow party.
The new leadership then embarked on what can only be described as a two-year flop, failing in most of its efforts to activate a large, energized progressive base and ceding organizational ground and the image of political competition to the grouping focused on Washoe. .
Now, nearly two years later, and a messy midterm election cycle later, a midterm in which the incumbent Democratic senator narrowly won a victory, but the the governor was defeated by his Republican opponent, that intraparty turmoil has reached its zenith.
at the end of last month political reported that party chair Judith Whitmer, originally elected with the backing of Sanders supporters, the DSA and a variety of other progressive groups, faced a challenge in her March re-election bid, following widespread discontent over her inability to build a durable building. grassroots campaigns.
By then, Whitmer had lost the support of nearly the entire state party apparatus, including his caucuses in both state legislative houses, the major DSA chapter in Las Vegas, and most of the big unions in the state. He was widely seen as lacking the ability to deliver on his 2021 promises and had gotten himself into an extraordinary and unnecessary setback with then-Governor Sisolak by endorsing a rival of his choice for lieutenant governor during the primary season. As the political article reported, she had come under fire for continuing to support a sheriff who supported the use of chokeholds and, most recently, faced a chorus of calls to resign after the state party removed 40 percent of the central committee members from its lists.
Last weekend, the party voted to remove Whitmer from office, replacing her with Assemblywoman daniele monroe moreno. The result was not close: Whitmer lost by a margin of more than three to one. All state party candidates endorsed by Monroe-Moreno’s “Unity” campaign won; all of Whitmer’s candidates lost.
There is a lesson here. The kind of posturing politics practiced by Whitmer is not enough, probably not anywhere, certainly not in a complex swing state like Nevada, with its core group of Democratic voters in Las Vegas and Reno, and with deeply conservative inner circles that surround the big cities
Posture aside, there is a lot of good politics in Nevada, witness the recently introduced bill to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage for low-income mothers during the first year after giving birth; the vanguard water recycling programs that they are in place; he ambitious CO2 reduction strategy that has been adopted. But that good politics is put at risk, and the likelihood of GOP electoral victories increases, when leaders like Whitmer fail to live up to the expectations of those who put them in power in the first place.
Last year, Oregon’s Democrats nearly fell apart when their candidate for governor, Tina Kotek, struggled to consolidate support, following the collapse of outgoing Gov. Kate Brown’s reputation. It wasn’t that voters didn’t like Brown’s basic political philosophy; she was more seen as someone who had failed to meet basic quality of life issues: she had failed to address the housing crisis, respond to rising crime, etc. In other words, she spoke well but ended up doing badly. Throughout 2022, she was the most unpopular governor in the country. Kotek ultimately won, but only after a major effort to distance himself from Brown and his legacy. In California, San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin was retirednot because he was far to the left of the San Franciscans, but because he was widely perceived to be incompetent at his job and incapable of delivering results that matched his soaring rhetoric.
There are lessons in these elections: there is plenty of room for radical politics in the West, and plenty of room for candidates seeking to shake up the status quo. In many ways, it remains a petri dish in which new and experimental political ideas and alliances are cultivated. But at the end of the day, voters also want tangible results. Whitmer’s lackluster tenure and his electoral loss last week is a wake-up call: If the Democrats want to continue to hold power in places like Nevada, they need a party political machine led by leaders who are not only idealistic but also competent. . .
