Kenny Guinn

It will be a busy week for the GOP fundraising machine after filing for office closes next month.

The GOP Senate Caucus has just sent out a 'save the date' e-mail for a May 21 event to be hosted in Reno.  The host committee includes Governor Jim Gibbons and all five former governors, including two Democrats.

Subtle message here:  Raggio is coming back.  

The latest news from the Governor is that he still wants those three doctors on the medical board to resign, even though there is no evidence that they did anything wrong. And now it’s really really really important to him to make sure that everyone knows that they had no wrongdoing in the case. But he still wants them to resign.  read more »

With GOP presidential candidates largely ignoring the Nevada presidential caucus on Saturday -- Ron Paul is the only Republican scheduled to be in the state this week -- the contest may offer some evidence as to the value of endorsements in a race that may be wide open. Here's a list of our GOP stakeholders, along with their percentage in the Reno Gazette-Journal poll - which suggests the possibility of a four-way contest on the Republican side:

Despite surprise losses in yesterday’s Iowa caucuses, the campaigns of both N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney expressed confidence in their prospects for winning their party’s respective nominations today, both hosting post-Iowa conference calls with an eye to the other early-voting states.

“We have twenty-six more contests coming up” by Feb. 5, said Terry McAuliffe, former DNC Chair and Clinton’s national campaign chairman. 

“One huge advantage that we have in the Clinton campaign is that from day one, we were going to run a national campaign.”  McAuliffe cited fundraising numbers over $100 million and an organizational presence in all twenty seven Super Tuesday or earlier states for support.

Governor Jim Gibbons recently asked most state agencies to propose budget cuts to make up for falling tax revenue, and not everyone is happy.  Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas) chastised Gibbons for jumping the gun, and even Republicans complain that Gibbons didn’t consult with them before making his announcement.

Don’t forget that former Governor Kenny Guinn (R) pushed through a tax increase to the tune of almost $1 billion (with a “b”) in 2003.  If we need to balance the budget again, will it be budget cuts or more taxes?  State Democrats now have a voice in Carson City.  What will they say?

Nevadans have contributed $2,901,288 to presidential candidates this cycle, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission through September 30. Republicans have brought in $1,792,530, while Democrats have raised $1,108,758 here.