Washoe County

The Nevada Dems have taken Washoe County.  In registration, that is.

Anjeanette Damon has the full story here. 

For the lazy: The Democratic lead was 958 votes by 2:45pm Monday, but the fact that there is a Democratic majority at all is the big news.  The last time that happenned was in 1978.

Registration does not equal votes, but the clear trend is from bad to worse for the Nevada GOP this year.

Back from New York and another failed attempt to revive her favorite fan club, Anjeanette Damon has the latest presidential fundraising numbers for Washoe County.  Obama outraised McCain $337,964 to $286,559 in the traditional GOP stronghold.

If this keeps up, all of the Republicans left after November may have to move to Elko.

According to statistics from the Secretary of State and the Washoe County voter registrar, Democrats added 11,421 voters in the county between January and September of this year. During that same time, Republican registration dropped by 14.

Voter registration in Washoe County. Sept/Jan

GOP: 87,971/87,985 (-14)

Dem: 84,705/73,284 (+11,421)

Nevada Resort Association executive director Bill Bible says the teachers' union initiative to increase gaming taxes by 44% could threaten the gambling industry in northern Nevada and rural counties, where profit margins are small.

The proposed tax hike would affect casinos that have gross revenue of more than $1 million a month.  Bible says that this would include most casinos in Carson City, Douglas County and Washoe County.