By Michelle L. Price Associated Press
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
LAS VEGAS — Republican venture capitalist Guy Nohra announced Tuesday that he is running for Nevada governor next year.
Nohra, 61, joins a GOP primary race that includes Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee and Reno attorney Joey Gilbert.
They are vying to take on incumbent Democrat Steve Sisolak, who will be making his first reelection bid in 2022.
Norha said in a campaign video released online Tuesday that he wants to "turn around Nevada's economy" and teach children "how great America is while keeping critical race theory out."
Critical race theory is a framework legal scholars developed that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation's institutions, maintaining the dominance of whites in society. It is not typically taught in K-12 schools, but it has become a target of the right.
Norha also said he wants to make state government more efficient, maintain Nevada's lack of a personal income tax and "expose the election fraud we all know is there."
Nevada election officials, including Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, have repeatedly said the 2020 election results are reliable and accurate. Some GOP officials, including former President Donald Trump, have made repeated, baseless assertions that voter fraud deprived him of re-election.
Norha's video introducing himself to voters features a tongue-in-cheek voiceover that evokes a movie trailer, telling a brief story of his upbringing and explaining that the pronunciation of his first name sounds like "ghee."
Nohra, who was born in Lebanon, moved to the U.S. when he was a teenager. He graduated from Stanford University and earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago. He cofounded Alta Partners, a venture capital firm.
He is a father of two daughters and lives in Reno, having moved to Nevada from California six years ago, according to his campaign.
Other Republicans in the race include: Lee, who recently left the Democratic Party to become a Republican; Gilbert, a Reno attorney who has questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election: and Lombardo.
Former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican who lost his reelection in 2018, is considering a campaign and has appeared at several local GOP events alongside the announced candidates.
U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, who represents Northern Nevada, has said he is considering a run as well and will make a decision about a campaign in October.
Sisolak was elected in 2018, becoming the swing state's first Democratic governor in two decades.
