GOVERNOR HAS LONG BEEN A SUPPORTER OF MEDICAID EXPANSION
NEVADA, FROM PAGE 1:
damage is already done for Heller. The senator had to run further to the right when he was competing against Tarkanian, she says, pointing to him falling in line with Trump on health care repeal after he and Gov. Brian Sandoval had voiced support for maintaining health care coverage for Nevada residents. Sandoval was the first Republican governor to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
“Tying yourself that closely to Trump and then vying for that endorsement from Trump in a state that Hillary won just doesn’t seem like a smart decision,” Abel says. “It’s obvious to most Democrats across the country that in order to take back the Senate, you have to go through Nevada.”
“My guess is it would be more significant if Nevada bucked the trend, whatever the trend may be. If it’s a big Democratic year as a lot of people are suggesting, electing (a Republican) would buck the trend, and vice versa if it goes the other way.”
The role of the governor
Nevada’s governor has been an outspoken supporter of the state’s Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, which helped reduce the uninsured population by almost half, to about 11 percent.
The governor’s seat carries weight as a possible step to higher office, Green says, as was the case for Sandoval. It won’t be as prominent as, say, the New York race, where former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon is running.
“My guess is it would be more significant if Nevada bucked the trend, whatever the trend may be,” Green says. “If it’s a big Democratic year as a lot of people are suggesting, electing (a Republican) would buck the trend, and vice versa if it goes the other way.”
Bunce pointed to the governor’s role in the sanctuary city and immigration debates. The Trump administration is defending in court its attempt to block so-called sanctuary states from receiving certain federal grants, saying policies that reduce cooperation with federal immigration enforcement hurt public safety.
In Nevada, the Democrat-controlled Legislature floated a sanctuary state bill in 2017 that ended up failing. A ballot measure seeking to block sanctuary policies in the state was ruled deceptive and misleading, and is heading back to district court so the wording can be adjusted, according to the ACLU of Nevada.
Abel also pointed to the role the next governor could play when it comes to immigration, as well as renewable energy and health care. In 2017, Sandoval vetoed 41 bills, a number only topped by Gov. Jim Gibbons’ 48 in 2009.
“Protecting the expansion of Medicaid, that’s going to be important, to have a governor in the mansion that’s going to keep protecting that and fighting for that, and is also going to have that voice in Washington when they go there to advocate on behalf of the state,” Abel says.
Nevada’s choices could affect redistricting and future elections
Nevada may not pick up another congressional Michael Green,
UNLV associate history professor seat after the 2020 Census as it did in 2000 and 2010, Green says, but the officials who control the process will help set the lines for future elections.
“We have not seen gerrymandering here of the level — whether you’re talking about a high level or a low level — in other states such as Texas and Pennsylvania, where there have been (legal) challenges,” Green says.
Nevada’s Assembly bucks a national trend of new lines favoring Republicans. An Associated Press analysis shows the state’s lower chamber favors Democrats more than any other Legislature.
“If Democrats are allowed to control redistricting in the coming years, they will gerrymander districts to maintain and expand their control of the Nevada Legislature,” Bunce says. “If allowed, they will stifle growth in Nevada and turn us into Eastern California.”
In 2011, Sandoval vetoed two sets of maps before a court ended up stepping in to draw the legislative and congressional lines. Abel says that because of this, there was no gerrymandering the last time the state redistricted.
According to Green, the maps ultimately approved by the court were more favorable to Democrats than the two that Sandoval vetoed.
Abel says the state’s current maps might reflect a natural shift in the state toward the Democratic Party.
“What you are seeing is a trend of Nevada moving more and more toward being a blue state,” she says. “We’re not there yet, obviously, but I think Nevada’s turning into being more of a Democratic state.”