A significant shakeup in Nevada Republican Party leadership occurred this month, although a lot of Nevadans might not have noticed.
It happened when Assembly Republicans dumped Jim Wheeler as their leader and unanimously selected Robin Titus to replace him. The reason it went under the radar was that it happened during the final 24 hours of the session, when lawmakers were scrambling to resolve such major issues as school funding.
But make no mistake, this was a change worth noting. It signaled that the state GOP could be headed in a different — and healthier — direction in trying to appeal to Nevada voters.
Titus has indicated that the GOP must do a better job of reaching Clark County residents and women statewide. If Titus knows what’s good for her party, she will push it away from the toxic extremism the party displayed in 2016 and 2018, when it was spanked at the polls by Democrats.
What Nevadans made clear during those years was that the Republican Party’s divisive stances on issues like immigration, reproductive rights and immigration don’t play here anymore. Voters demanded responsible, bipartisan-minded leadership, not party ideologues like Wheeler.
The ousted leader, Wheeler, represents much of what voters found so repellant in the party, especially those in Clark County. The Minden resident checked off the boxes up and down the list in supporting GOP dogma — pro-NRA, anti-abortion, immigration hardliner, etc. Not only that, but he proposed casting Clark County out of Nevada by making it its own state or district, and once told a California legislator he’d exchange Las Vegas for Lake Tahoe. He perhaps was best known for telling a group that he’d vote to legalize slavery if that’s what his constituents wanted him to do.
Despite his loathsome positions, there was Wheeler in both 2016 and 2018, helping drive the GOP to defeat after defeat. This year, his party went into the legislative session facing Democratic majorities in both chambers and Democrat Steve Sisolak in the governor’s office.
Enter Titus.
While it remains to be seen whether she can move the party to a less divisive stance — or truly even wants to — it would be best for all Nevadans if she did indeed expand the GOP’s tent to include more women and Clark County residents. As voters have made clear, that will require the GOP to come toward the center.
As proven by former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval — and current Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, too — the state runs best under moderate leaders who are focused on solving problems and forging progress as opposed to scoring party victories. Sandoval set what should be the standard for GOP leaders, showing a willingness to buck the party’s harsh policies on immigration, health care, taxes, public education and other issues for the good of Nevadans during his two terms in office.
Given Sandoval’s popularity, it’s been a head-scratcher to see the state GOP steer to the fringe in recent years. Don’t they know a successful approach when they see it? How many times do they need to learn that Nevadans reject extremism before they change course? It’s happened twice now, after all — once when Hillary Clinton carried the state in 2016 and then when voters turned their backs on the GOP in 2018.
Maybe in 2020, things will be different. Maybe with fresh leaders like Titus, the GOP can work with Democrats on what’s good for Nevada — strengthening our immigrant communities, expanding access to health care, protecting reproductive rights, promoting gun safety, adequately funding our public schools and making our state a more welcoming place for businesses and incoming families.
Not only would it move our state forward, it might help the Republicans recapture some of the many seats they’ve lost.