If you’d like to see Assemblyman Jim Wheeler controlling 10 percent of the Nevada State Senate for the next dozen years, your fondest dreams are a major step closer to coming true. (OK, so it’s not quite 10 percent, just 9.5, two senators out of 21. But hey, we’re talking government where rounding off is an art form.)
Mr. Wheeler, R-Douglas/Lyon/Storey, gained international infamy in 2013 by stating he’d vote for slavery if his constituents wanted him to do so. He’s now running for state senate.
He said he was just kidding when he found that his remarks to a small Storey County gathering went viral on YouTube. Many, including Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, apparently didn’t get the joke. Stephen Colbert and a whole lotta national media certainly found a lot of material with that new installment in a long line of dubious Silver State public relations coups.
Didn’t hurt Jim politically. He was unopposed in 2016 and elected head of the Assembly Republican Caucus for the 2017 legislative session.
The Alabaster Bastion which he calls home has always been quite forgiving of political anachronisms. Former Nevada Assembly Speaker and State Senator Lawrence “Jake” Jacobsen, R-Gardnerville, had a real talent for saying the wrong thing.
In 1980, when asked by a visiting delegation from Africa about why there were so few black people in northern Nevada, Jake matter-of-factly stated “it’s too cold for them up here.”
Nevada’s greatest lawmaker, African-American Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, was quite forgiving. My friend Joe (1935-2020) was a mensch with a great sense of irony.
“I like Jake,” he said. But that didn’t stop Joe from lampooning him in the 1981 “Third House” lawmakers’ roast. (I was there.)
Jake was a nice guy, just a man out of his time. He had no malice in him. Can’t say the same for Mr. Wheeler.
Republican James Settelmeyer who now holds the seat in the current version of Jake’s district is term limited. Wheeler has announced his candidacy.
But one seat’s not enough. He also has designs on controlling the seat next door. He has already found a MAGA moonhowler to run and also has an ante into the current round of replacement roulette.
Term-limited Sen. Ben Kieckhefer. R-Washoe/Carson, just resigned to accept a seat on the Nevada Gaming Commission. The Carson City Board of Supervisors and the Washoe County Commission will caucus to name a successor who will hold the seat through next year’s general election.
Assemblymember Lisa Krasner, R-Reno, announced for the senate before Kieckhefer resigned.
Wheeler’s like another flaming racist, Democratic President Andrew Jackson. (Why-oh-why did the only presidents named Andrew have to be such moonhowlers?)
Jackson, like his biggest fan Donald Trump, made everything personal. He destroyed the Bank of the United States, which crippled the U.S. economy for decades afterward, because the bank had once refused him a loan for his slave plantation.
Wheeler was flamingly miffed when Assemblymember Dr. Robin Titus beat him for minority leader in this year’s session. (She will run against him for senate.)
Mrs. Krasner supported Dr. Titus so Mr. Wheeler wants his revenge. His MAGA moonhowler is apparently so unqualified that she did not dare apply to fill out the remainder of Kieckhefer’s term. So Wheeler (I am not making this up) had the son of his legislative secretary apply.
The lucky 13 applicants will be interviewed by the Carson pols on November 4 and the Washoeites on Nov. 9. They will meet jointly to select a senator on Nov. 10. (Kieckhefer’s replacement must be of the same party under state law.)
Mrs. Krasner’s most likely competition is a surprise, long-retired three-term (1974-1980) Assemblymember Bob Weise, R-Washoe Valley, who served as minority leader in his time. Bob and his wife, the former Cathy Jo Valenta (formerly a lawyer with the Legislative Counsel Bureau), are great Nevadans. But this is not their time.
One trap I hope the 10 pols don’t fall into is that of the caretaker, someone who swears that she or he will not seek election to the seat next year. Whomever they choose will not only serve in the upcoming special session on reapportionment, but also on interim legislative study committees.
Mrs. Krasner is the only applicant who knows the territory after three terms in the lower house. She holds a law degree, teaches at TMCC, and is the mother of two college age sons (one at UNR, the other at her alma mater, UCLA). She married a candidate for sainthood. Dr. Charles Krasner is an infectious disease specialist in this time of plague.
Mrs. Krasner’s record is one of strong principle with a bi-partisan approach. In 2019, with Sen. Patricia Spearman, D-North Las Vegas, she co-sponsored three bills, now state law, protecting womens’ rights in the areas of domestic violence, rape and sex trafficking.
In her freshman session in 2017, she sponsored Assembly Bill 145 which extended from 10 years to 20 (from the time a child turns 18), that someone sexually abused as a minor may sue for damages. She garnered national attention for her work and Congress passed a similar law shortly thereafter. Legendary attorney Gloria Allred flew to Nevada to support the legislation.
Her bill was co-sponsored by 16 colleagues of both parties, including Ben Kieckhefer and (drum roll, please…) Jim Wheeler hisself before he got so mad.
You will find a link to the Carson government website containing the applications of all 13 hopefuls with the expanded web edition of this column at NevadaLabor.com/
Take the time to review, then contact your representatives. This is important. If Wheeler prevails now and in 2022, he becomes scarily powerful for the next 13 years.
The High Desert Outback of the American Dream is infamous enough.
Take care of each other and be careful out there.
Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Quarantino Barbano is a 52-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com and SenJoeNeal.org/ Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us
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