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ASSEMBLY GOP’S MUSICAL (CHAIRS)
No one knows for sure what finally caused Assemblyman Ira Hansen (R-Reno) to throw in the
towel and step aside as Speaker-designee, but word on the street is that he was
threatened with an opposition research file that would be leaked little by
little throughout the entire legislative session.
Death of a thousand political cuts.
And anyone who doesn’t think that Gov. Brian Sandoval’s (R&R-Advertising) political hit man, Mike Slanker, was part-and-parcel in this
take-down operation is delusional. This
is exactly that kind of smear campaign he’s extremely well known for.
Either Slanker found the chum of Hansen’s previous columns
and threw it in the direction of the media, or he saw the blood in the water
after the story broke and fed the feeding frenzy by putting out condemnation
press releases from a number of his clients, including Sandoval.
Either way, Ira’s charge that Slanker was involved in this
at some level was “dead on balls accurate” (it’s an industry term).
In any event, with Hansen stepping down, there is a renewed
power struggle within the Assembly Republican Caucus for a new
Speaker-designee. And probably a new
vote for Majority Leader, as well, since a number of members were already
unhappy with moderate Assemblyman Paul
Anderson being given the chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means
Committee after he was elected ML on the same night Assembly Minority Leader Pat “The Appeaser” Hickey was tossed
overboard.
An additional problem for Anderson has also come up over the
disposition of some $100,000 in donations purportedly for the caucus that he
now somehow personally controls in his own PAC.
I don’t know all the details about this, but it’s definitely a big bone
of unhappy contention among some in the caucus.
Nevertheless, after Hansen announced he was stepping down,
Anderson immediately began making calls trying to round up support for him as the
new Speaker. At the same time,
conservative Assemblywoman Michele Fiore
began testing the same waters.
But the fear that if Fiore was the GOP’s pick that the
Democrats would exercise the “nuclear option” – voting with a handful of moderate
Republicans to elevate Anderson anyway - led to conservative talk of putting
forward Elko conservative John Ellison
for the Speaker slot, with Fiore agreeing to settle for the Majority Leader
position.
That plan was moving along throughout the day on
Monday. But on Monday night it was
leaked that conservative Assemblyman Wes
Duncan, with Hansen’s support, was throwing his hat in the ring for
Speaker.
Like Ellison, Duncan can probably unite the warring factions
and avoid raising the ire of the media despite the fact that he had the fourth
highest conservative rating in Citizen Outreach’s 2013 legislative scorecard.
The chink in Duncan's armor, however, is that he’s a government
employee who works for the Clark County district attorney’s office - a longtime
no-no for conservatives. That said, if
all the Democrat public employees will continue to be allowed to serve in the
Legislature, then you can’t disqualify Duncan for the same thing.
Kick 'em all out...or leave 'em all in.
So it looks like Duncan will be the consensus candidate for
Speaker-designee.
Which brings us to the Majority Leader position…
Again, there was already dissatisfaction with Anderson
remaining in that slot. And Anderson, if
he gives up his pursuit of the Speaker position, will surely want to remain as
ML.
So the question is whether or not the caucus, when it meets
next week, will re-open voting for the ML position – with Fiore running against
Anderson - or leave him there.
Frankly, I don’t know how you have a new vote for a new
Speaker without having a new vote for the Majority Leader spot, as well. There’s just too much controversy surrounding
Anderson to not re-visit that decision.
Of equal concern is what will happen to the two paid
positions within the caucus that Hansen has already filled – Craig Hulse as chief-of-staff and Geoff Lawrence as Policy Advisor.
I don’t know Craig, but I’ve heard nothing but good things
about him and am told he used to work for former conservative Gov. Jim Gibbons.
Lawrence, on the other hand, is extremely well-known by
conservatives and was an inspired pick for the Policy Advisor position.
Whatever leadership team is elected next week, they’d do
well to retain both individuals for the positions they’ve already been hired
for.
Nothing, of course, is a done deal at this point. But it appears that after three days of chaos
the Republicans in the Assembly are on the verge of righting the ship that
capsized with Hansen’s resignation on Sunday.
Nice save.
TUBE TIP
My longtime running buddy and partner in political crime Dan Burdish and I will be on News 3’s “What’s
Your Point?” tomorrow at 12:30 pm to discuss "Speakergate" and other issues/current
events with hosts Jeff Gillan and Amy Tarkanian.
Watch it live on your telly or click here for
live streaming on the ‘net.
MOUNT REAGAN UPDATE
Excerpt from a story today by Steve Tetreault of the Las Vegas Review-Journal about Congress’
unfinished business…
DRIVE-BY MUTHINGS
Regardless of how you felt about the grand jury decision not
to charge police officer Darren Wilson
in the shooting of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, MO, how in the hell do you justify breaking into a liquor
store and
stealing bottles of booze? Or looting the convenience store where Brown
stole those cigars, leading to his confrontation with Wilson? Or setting
cars on fire? Or burning down a Little
Caesar’s pizza store?
Here’s the thing about the Uber ride-sharing service that
the anti-Uber taxi cartel in Nevada keeps missing: You can’t stand on a street
corner and hail an Uber car. You have to
become a member of the Uber “club.” Only
Uber members can use Uber’s service. It
is not a public conveyance.
Whether or not Uber drivers are properly screened via background
checks is a concern for Uber members, not government regulators. If Uber members are willing to “risk” getting
in a car with an Uber driver, that’s a decision a grown adult in supposedly the
freest nation on the planet should be able to make on their own. It’s none of the government’s damn business.
STILL TIME TO VOTE IN $100,000 TEACHER CHALLENGE
Remember, you can (and should, please) vote every day for
Brenda Moynihan in her
effort to secure a $100,000 grant for C.T. Sewell Elementary School in
Henderson.
CLICK HERE to vote. And remember, you can vote every day until
the deadline on November 30th.
You know, just like in Chicago elections!
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“I was not elected by Mike Slanker, Pete Ernaut or Brian
Sandoval. I was elected by the people of
the district and I am going to stick it out to the bitter end and represent
them." – Assemblyman Ira Hansen to the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Ray Hagar stating
that even though he has stepped down as Speaker-designee, he is not resigning
his seat in the Assembly itself
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