The agonizing struggle continues as we search for Republicans who are not an active threat to American democracy or institutions of government.
Three weeks ago, in an editorial headlined “In search of GOP candidates willing to stand up for democracy,” we called on Nevada Republican candidates with a simple request: “If you are a Republican running for office who believes in truth, believes that the last election was fair, who rejects the deranged calls to destroy our democracy, we need to hear from you. Nevada needs to hear from you. We want to endorse sanity, honesty, integrity and moderation.”
Thousands of readers, both in Southern Nevada and across the country, shared the article and reached out to thank us for our honesty and earnestness.
Unfortunately, while the response proved that the spirit of public service is alive and well among our readers, it also demonstrated just how far the Republican Party has fallen in Nevada. The total number of Republicans who contacted us to say that they believed Joe Biden is the rightful president was zero. Nought. Nil. Not a single one.
The sad reality is that the Republican Party, Donald Trump’s Republican Party, no matter what power or seats its candidates may hold after November’s general election, is a hollowed-out husk of the once proud, principled and voraciously independent party it once was.
With moderates crouching in silence inside the party, it is now an extreme nationalist organization whose modern base of support lies in the small percentage of Americans who view Trump as a demigod, incapable of fault or deceit. Today’s GOP has morphed into a party of blind followers eager to obey orders from their leaders. No independent thought or diversity of opinion allowed.
It’s a party that refuses to articulate a platform, but eagerly bellows its grievances amid wildly inconsistent views. The same small percentage of Americans happy to support a party whose members launched a violent insurrection at the Capitol to overturn a fair election now blather about “election integrity” and “voter fraud.” The insanity was further highlighted in the early primaries this spring — as some Republicans across the country accused each other of election fraud simply because they lost to another Republican.
Nor should we forget the smaller percentage of Americans who claim that the right to life of a fetus in the womb is absolute, even in cases of rape and incest, while simultaneously insisting that a 10-year-old child’s right to life is subject to the whims of a “freedom-loving” American AR-15 owner who doesn’t want to be inconvenienced by a background check.
That’s it. That’s the base of the party. And it will continue to be, until a rebellion among the rational Republicans arrives to put things right. Sadly, it’s not clear where those Republicans are hiding out — we suspect most are now registered nonpartisan.
The rest of Republican power comes from a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression tactics, and an unholy alliance with people who got tired of the Democratic Party’s inability to get out of its own way and stop insulting or patronizing the very voters they’re trying to court.
Despite the disappointing reality of our current two-party system, there is a strong and diverse field of candidates competing in the June 14 statewide primary election. And we know that despite the lack of response to our editorial, there are at least some decent Republicans in the field who have refused to engage in Trump’s “Big Lie.”
As voters consider their choices, we teamed up with our sister publication, Las Vegas Weekly, to offer our recommendations in select races. Not all races include an endorsement, which is intentional, as not all races had candidates we felt confident we could stand behind.
To be considered for an endorsement, a candidate needed to demonstrate that he or she has a firm grasp of important issues to Nevadans, including issues specific to the office being sought. They also needed to demonstrate skills and experience as effective leaders, communicators and coalition builders. And most importantly, they could not be engaged in undermining the U.S. Constitution and U.S. electoral system by promoting claims of election fraud or other conspiracy theories. In our opinion, touting ideas that are outside of reality and beyond the support of any available body of evidence renders a candidate simply unqualified for public office.
Despite setting the bar incredibly low, 41 of the 53 Republican candidates in the state’s biggest races (U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state), more than 75%, failed to meet even our most basic standards for primary endorsement. The state’s voters need to pay attention to this — today’s Republican candidates in Nevada overwhelming appear bent on corrupting our electoral system.
This is appalling. Yet it is also the toxic reality of the election before us. We have endeavored to provide a list of candidates from across the political spectrum whom we believe are the antidote to at least some of this toxicity. See you at the polls.