Progressive activist Annette Magnus may announce her candidacy for Assembly District 35 (AD-35) after the presidential primary, a swing district vacated by Democratic Assemblywoman Michelle Gorelow. Gorelow withdrew her reelection bid amid ongoing ethics scandals that continue to haunt Democratic members of the state legislature.

Magnus hails from Las Vegas and was active in the legislature during her tenure as Executive Director of Battle Born Progress. Magnus retired from the position at the end of the last legislative session, receiving praise for her work and encouragement for a political run from Democratic Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV-1).

During a highly-partisan and divisive address to the legislative body, Titus stated: “You know speaking of legacies, I’ve heard recently that Annette Magnus has decided she’s going to retire from Battle Born Progress after this session. I hated to hear that. We all owe Annette a debt of gratitude for what she has done to educate the public, successfully advocate for important causes, and keep the progressive agenda at the forefront of Nevada politics. Godspeed Annette. We’ll miss you here, but I don’t think you’ll be a stranger. Maybe you should run for office!”

Under Magnus’s direction, Battle Born Progress advocated for defunding the police. According to a report by the Washington Free Beacon, “In July 2020, Battle Born Progress called to ‘save money by defunding’ the state’s police presence in schools, adding that ‘police officers in schools help foster the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Adding to her progressive credentials is Magnus’s close relationship with Las Vegas activist Akiko-Ayalla Cooks of the Mass Liberation Project who proposes “abolishing the criminal legal system as we know it,” defunding the Las Vegas Police Department, and likened policing to “terrorism.”

Although Nevada ranks 49th in education, Magnus is against school choice for disadvantaged families, referring to Opportunity Scholarships as a “voucher scam.” Democratic Assembly Leader Steve Yeager amplified this falsehood.

Additionally, Magnus advocated teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) to young children in public schools because “young people need to know this information.” When a mother spoke out against the teaching of CRT at a Washoe County School Board meeting, Battle Born Progress disparaged the mother as “another Karen” who holds “conspiracy-laden beliefs.”

According to her Facebook profile, constituents in Assembly District 35 may want to pass on inviting Magnus to Thanksgiving dinner as Magnus believes that Thanksgiving is a “genocidal holiday.” As for explorer Christopher Columbus, Magnus thinks he is a “murderous moron.” It is likely that most, if not all, of the Italians in her prospective district would disagree with her.

Should Magnus announce her candidacy, she will be the first Democrat candidate in AD-35 to do so. Republican candidates Rebecca Edgeworth and Brittany Walker Hausle have announced their bids for the district, but have yet to receive an endorsement from Republican Governor Joe Lombardo.

Lombardo has been active in endorsing state-wide races as Republicans need to flip the assembly or hold the senate majority to avoid a Democratic veto-proof supermajority in both houses.

According to the data, AD-35 has a slight 2.6 percent Democratic advantage, yet the district is saturated with independent voters. In 2022, Gorelow won the swing district by less than 400 votes out of over 25,000 votes cast. The district is located in Southwest Las Vegas and includes the communities of Southern Highlands and Mountain Edge.

Attempts to reach Magnus for comment were unsuccessful.