By Ken Ritter Associated Press
Thursday, September 23, 2021
LAS VEGAS — Feuding factions of the Republican Party in Clark County have emerged from separate meetings with slates of officers, but the head of the Nevada GOP said Wednesday only one set will be seated at a statewide leadership meeting next month.
The Clark County Republican Central Committee headed by Jesse Law will be recognized at the Oct. 16 meeting in Winnemucca, said Michael McDonald, chief of the state Republican Party. Law is a former aide to the state GOP and former President Donald Trump's Nevada campaign.
"The state party will seat Jesse's slate, and we'll move forward," McDonald said. "It's sad that it turned out this way."
Law and McDonald pointed to a court order issued earlier in the day that dismissed a lawsuit from other party members claiming they were the legitimate leaders. Judge Susan Johnson in Las Vegas ruled that decisions about "matters of internal party management" would be left to party members, not the courts.
Law's group is recognized by both the Republican National Committee and the state party, Law and McDonald said.
Law acknowledged that party members associated with the extremist Proud Boys were among the 500 people attending his meeting. He characterized the crowd as "a sea of diverse folks."
The Proud Boys are a male-only group with a history of violent clashes with left-wing protesters. Trump cited the group during an October 2020 presidential campaign debate, and several Proud Boys have been charged with conspiracy and other crimes relating to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Law predicted the eventual dissolution of the other GOP group, which drew about 100 people Tuesday to a virtual meeting that elected state Sen. Carrie Buck as chairwoman. The interim chairman, Republican state Assemblyman Stephen Silberkraus, was elected as committee political director.
Ed Gonzalez, committee secretary, said the Buck-led group intends to go to the meeting in Winnemucca.
Before she was elected, Buck termed Law's group an "insurgency," the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
"The Clark County Republican Party is at a tipping point," Buck said in a statement that vowed she would focus on goals, accountability and making the county GOP "the most well-functioning political organization in the state."
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