Blurbs, Links, News Clips & Snippets

As first reported by David McGrath Schwartz of the Las Vegas Sun, state Sen. Mo Denis said he plans to resign from his job with the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC), possibly rendering moot the recently filed lawsuit challenging his ability to be employed in two branches of state government.

Denis, who is the heir apparent to Sen. Majority Leader Steven Horsford, told the Sun he’d already been looking for a new job with more flexibility in preparation for his Senate leadership role. He said the decision is not related to the lawsuit from conservative think tank Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI).

The NPRI suit contents that Article III (Continue reading…)

Nevada’s congressional delegation is currently split 3-2 on the latest bill temporarily extending the payroll tax cuts.

Rep. Shelley Berkley favors the measure passed by the U.S. Senate (by an 89-10 vote Saturday) and supported by Sen.s Harry Reid and Dean Heller.

However, both Rep.s Joe Heck and Mark Amodei say they oppose the two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts on the basis that it is too short-term.

House Speaker John Boehner this morning said Republicans will most likely vote down the measure, objecting to the temporary fix and saying he favors the year-long extension approved last week. He now wants to establish a conference committee to negotiate a different deal.

But Senate Majority Leader (Continue reading…)

Gov. Sandoval was one of the few GOP governors who did not attend last week’s Republican Governors Association (RGA) annual pow-wow in Orlando.

He cited schedule conflicts including the conference on tourism in Las Vegas and said “Nevada comes first.”

More than two dozen of the nation’s 29 Republican governors attended the event, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, vice chairman of the national organization, and Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, who is serving as chairman.

McDonnell touted “historic victories in Louisiana and Mississippi” in 2011 and said the organization is raising “record sums” in remarks made at the conference.

Next year, Democrats will defend in eight of 11 states scheduled to (Continue reading…)

Time to close some of these open internet browser tabs, Dear Readers, so here are the most interesting “In Case You Missed It” stories I’ve read this past few days:

– Nevada’s congressional delegation chimes in on the failure of the Supercommittee to be, well, super.

– State Sen. John Lee says (D) he is out of the CD-4 primary against Sen. Steven Horsford. Instead, he’ll run to hold his senate seat.

– Secretary of State Ross Miller to First Judicial District Court in Carson City about an LCB request related to incumbents using the word “re-elect” during campaign season:  ”Objection!”

– Does Nevada’s CD-1 mirror a national (Continue reading…)

Update/correction:  Danny Tarkanian did not commission this poll.

Strategic National has conducted a (very) small-sample robopoll in NV04.

In a primary match up against state Sen. Barabara Cegavske, Tarkanian is ahead 54 percent to 8 percent. (Chalk most of this margin up to Tarkanian’s advantage based on name recognition — but it means that Cegavske would have to work hard and spend a significant amount of money in a primary race against him. I’m sure Tarkanian is hoping this poll will discourage her.)

In a match-up against a generic Democrat, the poll says Tarkanian wins 44 percent to 29 percent with this group of (303) likely voters. Undecideds were at 27 percent. Based (Continue reading…)

A new survey from Public Policy Polling shows Gov. Brian Sandoval’s approval numbers hovering in the mid-40s, with 45 percent of the voters in the state approving of him and 38 percent who disapprove. He continues to show relatively strong crossover support with 26 percent of Democrats approving of him.

Other survey findings:

– Sen. Harry Reid’s plus/minus numbers are holding steady with 42 percent of voters approving and 52 percent disapproving. Reid’s numbers are even worse with independent voters who show him at 31/65 approval/disapproval.

– Nevadans are divided on the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party protest movements. By a narrow margin, more see Occupy Wall Street favorably (42/40) (Continue reading…)

Voter registration numbers released today by Secretary of State Ross Miller show a statewide increase in the number of registered voters at the end of October compared to the previous month.

The elections division reported that 4,336 residents registered to vote during the month, and of that amount, 1,819 registered as Republican while 926 registered as Democrat.

Notably, there were 1,591 residents who registered with either the minor political parties or as Non-Partisans, which may be a message to the two major parties.

At the end of October, 410,950 active Republicans and 475,218 active Democrats are registered in Nevada, a difference of 64,628.

There are 181,960 active registered Non-Partisan voters and 52,535 Independent American (Continue reading…)

…where X is (probably) equal to one.

As first Tweeted by @RalstonFlash yesterday, former Rep. Dina Titus plans to announce (this Thursday) in which congressional district she plans to run. The declaration will come even though Nevada’s new congressional maps are not yet validated by either the courts or the legislature.

Former Rep. Dina Titus

Titus will most likely choose to run in CD-1, where she lives, which will likely result in a very interesting Democratic primary race between her and state Senator Ruben Kihuen. (Titus has said she’d run in the district with the most Democrats; Kihuen has said he’d run in the district with the most Hispanics.)

For (Continue reading…)

Some snippets and blurbs from the week so far for your enjoyment, Dear Readers:

Presidential Race

Magellan Strategies this week released an autodial poll of 673 likely Nevada GOP caucus goers. Results:

Mitt Romney – 38%

Herman Cain – 26%

Newt Gingrich – 16%

Ron Paul – 7%

Rick Perry – 5%

Michele Bachman – 2%

Rick Santorum & Jon Huntsman – 1%

Other – 1%

Also interesting, the Favorable/Unfavorable ratios from the poll:

Cain 69% 19%
Romney 67% 23%
Gingrich 63% 26%
Bachmann 41% 45%
Santorum 28% 43%
Paul 32% 51%
Perry 25% 58%
Huntsman 13% 57%
NV GOP Caucuses

The Union Leader in New Hampshire couldn’t resist one more jab at Nevada (via OpEd), but they got (Continue reading…)

As first reported by me (Thursday on Twitter), the embattled state GOP caved to pressure and scuttled the “same-day registration” discussion panel it had planned for Saturday’s central committee meeting at the Venetian Hotel.

Numerous party execs and elected officials (who declined to be named lest their voice mailboxes be bombarded with further protests) lamented the situation but said they were unable to convince concerned members that ineligible voters, Democrats and/or union members would not show up en masse and use on-site registration to interfere with the Republican caucuses.

Despite removal of the controversial topic from the agenda and the fervent prayers of state party officials that it would not come up, (Continue reading…)

By a loud and nearly unanimous voice vote following explanatory remarks by RNC Committeeman and former Gov. Bob List, the Nevada Republican Party Central Committee this morning voted to move Nevada’s caucus from January 14 to February 4.

The RNC is out with an ad highlighting remarks made by Sen. Harry Reid on the floor yesterday (I have provided the context for the clip right below the ad):

_

Here’s the link if your browser has trouble with the embed:

http://youtu.be/lKe9EZEBQ80

Reid’s unedited remarks:

“The massive layoffs we’ve had in America today — of course they’re rooted in the last administration — and it’s very clear that private sector jobs are doing just fine. It’s the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation’s all about. And it’s unfortunate my friend the Republican Leader is complaining about that. I would also note that my (Continue reading…)

Hey, guys:

If the ruby-slippered girl from Kansas had capitulated to the demands of the wicked witch (“SURRENDER DOROTHY“) and her flying monkeys, poor Toto might still be stuck in Oz.

But:

As reported by Ralston last night and confirmed by numerous sources inside the state party, Nevada Republican leaders are going wobbly and reconsidering their Jan. 14 caucus date.

Many forces are at play here:

– The ire of New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner who has been threatening to move the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary to December if Nevada does not move its date back

– Firm but friendly pressure from the Iowa GOP

– Pressure and promises of future benefits (Continue reading…)

Now that the dust has settled, Dear Readers, thought I’d recall a few memorable moments from last night’s CNN debate at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas:

Best Zinger

My pick for the best one-liner of the night:

In his self-introductory remarks, Perry said he was was “an authentic conservative, not a conservative of convenience.”

(Yes, he was talking to you, Mitt.)

9-9-9

For the first 25 minutes of the debate, it was Pick on Herman Cain night, as follows:

Rep. Michele Bachman:  “Anytime you give the Congress a brand-new tax, it doesn’t go away.”

Sen. Rick Santorum: “Herman’s well-meaning, and I love his boldness. I give him credit for — for starting a debate, but (Continue reading…)

America’s favorite libertarian Texas congressman is proposing nearly $4 trillion in cuts and a fully balanced budget during his first term as president.

Ron Paul addresses supporters and press at The Venetian

In what was hyped as a “major announcement”, Ron Paul today introduced a plan to slash the national deficit and abolish entire departments of the federal government. The thrust of the proposal is what Paul describes as “constitutionally-limited, smaller-government”.

Some highlights of Paul’s “Plan to Restore America“:

Cuts $902 billion in spending during the first year of the Paul presidency (compared to current spending levels)

Eliminates five federal departments:  Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Interior

Lowers the corporate (Continue reading…)