Nevada Appeal Capitol Bureau
Monday, August 9, 2021
Gov. Steve Sisolak issued a statement Monday calling out what he described as blatantly racist comments aimed at his wife by Nye County Commissioner Donna Cox.
As reported by veteran journalist John L. Smith in the Nevada Independent, Cox said during a hearing that Kathy Sisolak is Chinese, “and put two and two together, they actually said that her family in China own a company that’s making a lot of money off this issue. That she’s been here in the United States promoting and selling all these masks and emergency equipment and everything.”
According to Smith, she then charged that’s the reason for Sisolak’s mask mandate and a direct conflict of interest on her part.
Sisolak said he was furious at the “vile, blatantly racist comments made against my wife.”
“There is no room for this type of hateful speech from anyone, especially not from an elected official,” he said.
Kathy Sisolak, formerly Kathy Ong, was born in Ely and educated at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After a career in Clark County government, she and Guy Hobbs founded the municipal finance and analysis firm of Hobbs, Ong and Associates.
Sisolak called on all elected officials especially Republicans in the state to denounce Cox’s comments as bigotry.
