Nevada politics all about the money

Nevada gets a mixed report card for voting and election policies and, like nearly everywhere in the country — money plays an outsized role in its politics.

That’s according to a panel of political experts who spoke on money in politics and voter issues at an event hosted by Sierra Nevada Forums on Wednesday at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall.

The Silver State gets accolades for access to legislative data, reporting on political action committees and is one of the top five states for ease of voter registration, said the panel.

But it’s also ranked 27th overall, according to the Health of State Democracies, a report from the Center for American Progress, which looked at such things as voter ID laws, judge recusal laws and campaign contribution limits for individual donors.

For the latter, in state races Nevada has a $20,000 limit — $10,000 in the primary and $10,000 in the general election — but individuals can then set up LLCs and funnel more money to their candidates, said Annette Magnus, executive director, Battle Born Progress.

That doesn’t mean voters are happy about it.

“Regardless of their party, voters want money out of politics,” said Magnus, who quoted a 2015 New York Times poll that said 84 percent of voters across party lines thought money had too much influence in politics.

Nevada is home to one of the biggest spenders in politics, Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino owner, who spent $100 million during the 2012 election.

The panel outlined several recent U.S. Supreme Court cases that allowed that to happen, including McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, which lifted the limit on how much an individual can spend on a candidate.

Even politicians aren’t happy about it.

“The candidates I speak with, from both parties, will candidly say they don’t like the system either,” said Robert Morin, a professor of political science at Western Nevada College and the University of Nevada, Reno, who moderated the panel. “They say the most distasteful part of the election is asking for money.”

And money doesn’t always equate with success.

“Jeb (Bush) had the most money and looked what happened to him. Hillary (Clinton) has a war chest and she’s in the struggle of her life,” said Sondra Cosgrove, professor, College of Southern Nevada and president, League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley.

Cosgrove said some election-related issues will take center stage at the upcoming legislative session in 2017.

She expects county registrars to be asking for money to test new voting machines to replace the state’s aging systems.

“They’re having to go on eBay to find circuit board replacements,” for them, she said.

Also, a bill draft request is being readied to change Nevada’s caucuses to primaries without the state losing its early voting status, said Cosgrove.

But that requires funding because the parties pay for caucuses and the state would have to pay for primaries. “The two legislators who are willing to put the bill draft request in are Republicans and they say they can find the money for it,” she said.