Again, I wouldn’t call these endorsements….just who I would vote for if I was voting today – which I’m not, because I agree with Jon Ralston that elections should be held on Election Day because you never know what bones or recorded phone messages could pop out of a candidate’s closet at the last minute.
• U.S. Senate: Sue Lowden
• Governor: Mike Montandon
• Attorney General: Travis Barrick or Jacob Hafter
• State Senate Capital: James Settelmeyer
• State Senate 4: Todd Bailey or Ty Cobb
• Assembly District 5: Tim Williams
• Assembly District 25: Pat Hickey
• Assembly District 26: Robb Archie
• Assembly District 39: Barbara Smallwood
Some additional commentary.
As I’m working with IAP attorney general candidate Joel Hansen on efforts to kick the Tea Party Crasher off the ballot, I’ve decided not to take a position in the GOP primary. Barrick is probably the more philosophically conservative, but Hafter has certainly been active in fighting ObamaCare.
In the governor’s race, Brian Sandoval is going to be the nominee. And I’m OK with that…on a trust but verify basis. After all, while promising he wouldn’t support raising taxes, he also refused to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge because he didn’t want his hands tied. That’s more than enough reason for fiscal conservatives to be skeptical again.
As for Gov. Gibbons, I give him credit for doing almost all the right things….in almost all the wrong ways. Especially being untruthful about keeping his Pledge to the voters on taxes. Gibbons broke his promise on more than one occasion…but that’s not what really bugs me. It’s that he keeps falsely telling people that he didn’t. I just can’t get passed that. Don’t tell Muth untruths.
So this is one of those times where I feel free to cast a vote of conscience, knowing full well that my preferred, underdog candidate is highly unlikely to win. Mike Montandon would make a competent chief executive while remaining a solid fiscal conservative. So that’s the chad I’ll be punching on Tuesday. After which we will then move into the Sandoval base camp on Wednesday.
In the Capital senate district, I’d cast a cautious vote for Settelmeyer because he voted so correctly so many times as an assemblyman. But taxpayers should be very worried about the fact that James hasn’t re-signed the Pledge now that he’s running for the senate. Has James gone over to the dark side? Feel the Force, James. Feel the Force.
In Senate District 4, taxpayers will have an advocate on their side with either Todd Bailey or Ty Cobb. The other guy in the race is a government employee who will vote the way the “Establishment” tells him to vote – and that means higher taxes. My sentimental side is with Bailey, but my practical side is with Cobb. I might even have to decide this one in the booth with a coin toss.
In Assembly District 5, Tibi Ellis told me she signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in front of Grover Norquist himself when Grover was in town for our Reagan Day tribute. I found out that wasn’t true. It’s not nice to tell Muth untruths. So I’m supporting conservative Tim Williams. And yes, I have his signed Pledge in our files.
Robb Archie is the only Republican candidate in Assembly District 26 to sign the Tax Pledge and Barbara Smallwood is the only Republican to do so in Assembly District 39.
And then there’s Assembly District 25. Neither of the two leading candidates have signed the Tax Pledge, but conventional wisdom in Reno is that Orrin Johnson is more conservative than Pat Hickey. That may or may not be true. All I know is that Pat has been in regular discussions with me on the issue while Orrin has blown off and ignored every attempt I’ve made to communicate with him.
I’d rather deal with someone I don’t always agree with than with someone afraid to even return an email. So for me, Pat Hickey is a no-brainer. Wait, that didn’t come out right. Lemme try again: Vote for Pat Hickey. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
