Yesterday, the Nevada Democratic Party Chairwoman, Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno, had some choice words for Governor Joe Lombardo in response to his election integrity proposals found in Senate Bill 405: “Not even halfway through the legislative session, Governor Lombardo is making his priorities clear: rolling back voting rights. Lombardo is more concerned with scoring political points by emboldening election deniers than giving Nevadans a voice at the ballot box. As he prioritizes deadly conspiracy theories and MAGA extremists at the expense of Nevadans’ right to vote, it seems Lombardo has conveniently forgotten the law enforcement background he so often touts,” Assm. Monroe said in a statement.
Today in a press conference, a question from The Globe regarding her statement prompted this response from the Governor’s Chief of Staff Ben Kieckhefer:
“I am sure those Democratic states and their Secretaries of State will be happy to know that the head of the Nevada Democratic Party thinks they are offering up deadly conspiracy theories and support for MAGA ideas, because these are policies that are not all that out of the mainstream in many parts of this country including Democratically controlled states.”
Kiekhefer also expressed confidence that he could work with the Democratic majority on securing a hearing and looked forward to continuing discussions related to Lombardo’s election reforms.
The Democratic majority may be apt to compromise as new polling shows that a vast majority of Nevadans support Governor Lombardo’s election integrity measures:
- 77% support a voter ID law, including a majority of Democrats.
- 60% support requiring that ballots must be received by the Registrars by five o’clock pm on election day (rather than the four days after the election is over.)
- 75% support repealing the 2021 law that required automatic mail-in voting, knowing this wouldn’t change early voting or Election Day opportunities.
Within the voter ID law, the numbers break down according to these demographics: 56% of female Democrats support, 82% of Nonpartisans, 68% of black voters, 80% of hispanics, 77% of white voters, 78% of 18-34 year olds, 77% of seniors, 84% of ticket splitters, 71% of moderates, 71% of college grads, and 73% of union households.
Better Nevada spokesman John Burke issued this statement: “In opposing Governor Lombardo’s commonsense proposals to secure our elections, Nevada Democrats have sided against the vast majority of Nevadans. This includes a majority of Democrats who support passing a voter ID law. If Democrats in the state legislature vote against this proposal, they will be putting partisan politics over the clear will of the people.”