Jon Ralston

Story Archive

Right wing in tizzy after budget deal: Friday, June 3, 2011; After months of elevating Gov. Brian Sandoval to Zeus-like status for his no-tax promise and for his effective GOP woodshed, the righties are having a public meltdown that Irwin Allen couldn’t have filmed.
Time for Gov. Sunny to rain on GOP lawmakers: Wednesday, June 1, 2011; How ironic that the Clean Water Coalition decision could have so muddied the political and legal waters here, washing away what was previously taken for granted and flooding the Legislative Building with conspiracy theories, ugly recriminations and personal lawmaking.
Jon Ralston: Budget problem will get fixed, but larger issues remain: Sunday, May 29, 2011; One week before the constitutionally mandated conclusion of the 76th session of the Legislature, a solution is at hand.
Court solves budget crisis, changes process: Friday, May 27, 2011; The serial thieves inhabiting the Legislative Building, who biennially plunder local sources because they don’t have the fortitude (or the votes) to enact thoughtful tax policy, have finally been called on their purloining by the only branch of government that could.
In shocker, Angle out for special House election: Wednesday, May 25, 2011; Didn't see that coming.
Hope alive in Carson City, but darkness is looming: Sunday, May 22, 2011; When I checked in with a key legislative player Friday, the message was simple: “Hope is still alive in Carson City.”
Goodman still knows little, except, perhaps, how to win: Friday, May 20, 2011; I’m not sure which was the more telling moment in the debate Wednesday evening between mayoral hopefuls Carolyn Goodman and Chris Giunchigliani.
Bill Clinton does robocall for Chris Giunchigliani, but can't quite get her name right: Thursday, May 19, 2011; But the former president says he's known her for a long time. Really? Maybe he should have watched that spot where she articulated how to say it. It's June-kill-ee-ani, Mr. President.
A cold capital with a storm brewing: Wednesday, May 18, 2011; It was cold up here Tuesday and I felt a chill go through my bones.
Will the legislative train run on time or crash?: Sunday, May 15, 2011; With apologies to Tolstoy, happy legislatures are all alike; every unhappy legislature is unhappy in its own way.
The Ensign report: Vindication for Doug Hampton?: Friday, May 13, 2011; Doug Hampton, the cuckolded husband whose wife was pursued by ex-Sen. John Ensign, is under indictment by the Justice Department.
If only there were time to debate the Democratic tax ideas: Sunday, May 8, 2011; I know the Democratic tax plan has about much chance of passage as Shelley Berkley hosting a soiree to honor Byron Georgiou.
Arena developer snags 51s, site behind Mandalay Bay – pro sports next?: Friday, May 6, 2011; As the public arena battle has raged between Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International, Texas entrepreneur Chris Milam has quietly been assembling the building blocks for his own project on the Strip.
Democrats have right idea on taxes, but it’s too late: Friday, May 6, 2011; As I listened to the Democratic tax plan Thursday, a thoughtful, even visionary look at stabilizing the state and bringing it out of the Mesozoic funding era, I closed my eyes.
Berkley faces doubting Democrats, but won’t recede: Sunday, May 1, 2011; One lobbyist, a Democrat, shook his head and almost mournfully asked the question, “Is there any way Shelley Berkley can win that race?”
First special House election in Nevada history set, chaos to ensue: Friday, April 29, 2011; Start your clocks ticking to the first lawsuit after Secretary of State Ross Miller sets rules Monday for a special election to fill Rep. Dean Heller's seat, which will take place Sept. 13. Gov. Brian Sandoval announced the date late Friday afternoon and Miller immediately informed the media he will have a news conference Monday morning.
The endgame is in sight in Carson, but no end is: Friday, April 29, 2011; Scenes from a Legislature, more than two-thirds done and with none of the major issues close to resolution:
Governor’s givebacks show political mastery: Wednesday, April 27, 2011; I hate what Gov. Brian Sandoval is doing.
Ensign’s fall from grace reinforces worst political stereotypes: Sunday, April 24, 2011; The details of the John Ensign saga are uniquely Nevadan, a grotesquerie of small-state politics with a former casino executive bringing the amoral industry culture to a place where such an ethos is prized and then being undone by his own narcissism and superficiality.
Get ready for the June train wreck: Friday, April 22, 2011; When a freshman Republican not really considered a player in his own caucus trips up Assembly Democratic leaders during their choreographed budget ballet, they need some new steps.
The untold story of the Ensign-Heller-Berkley moves: Nevada’s loss of DC clout: Wednesday, April 20, 2011; For a small state such as Nevada, having the Senate majority leader is an obvious boon. But the state also has been covered by obtaining highly coveted seats on the Senate and House money committees.
How the PokerStars six-month plan went awry: Wednesday, April 20, 2011; The timeline for the PokerStars plan to come to Nevada, buy influence, lower licensing requirements and gain a foothold before federal legislation passed is coming into focus.
Poker company indictments further cloud legislative debate: Sunday, April 17, 2011; On March 10, two apparently unrelated events occurred thousands of miles apart.
Berkley’s Senate candidacy signals another marquee Nevada race: Friday, April 15, 2011; Shelley Berkley never thought seriously of running for the U.S. Senate until June 16, 2009.
Legislative Democrats have a plan to get to a plan: Wednesday, April 13, 2011; It’s not a plan.
Poll: Romney does well among 2008 GOP delegates, but they are cuckoo for Trump, too: Tuesday, April 12, 2011; Romney and Trump.
Rory Reid responds to SOS inquiry, shows bank accounts for sham PACs: Tuesday, April 12, 2011; Rory Reid responds.
Counting on public apathy to kill campaign reform: Sunday, April 10, 2011; Bipartisanship has arrived in the capital, and it is ugly to behold.
Horsford won’t play cards yet, but does he have a hand?: Friday, April 8, 2011; If there is a train wreck at the end of Session ’11, state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford says he will not be driving.
News flash: Sandoval isn’t budging; Democrats need to act: Wednesday, April 6, 2011; I’m not sure why he had to say it again. But he did.
Carolyn Goodman’s vapid, winning campaign: Sunday, April 3, 2011; I had extraordinarily low expectations for the Las Vegas mayor’s race.
Big gamers may be right, but cried wolf too often: Friday, April 1, 2011; This is the juiciest story to come along in quite some time in this juice town.
If only Carson caucuses had no mute buttons: Wednesday, March 30, 2011; I wondered what would happen if Carson City reporters could hear what goes on in legislative caucuses right before media events or releases.
Quest for justice boomerangs: Sunday, March 27, 2011; On New Year’s Eve 2009, showing the generosity of spirit his family always had toward the Hamptons, Sen. John Ensign had this to say when asked about potential violations of a cooling-off law by the best friend he had betrayed:
Carson City juice and the ‘new’ Sharron Angle: Friday, March 25, 2011; Some succulent Carson City leftovers to munch on at week’s end, with an Angle morsel for dessert:
Students hector governor, but target wrong audience: Wednesday, March 23, 2011; Kyle George, the irrepressible student leader from UNLV, had a question for the governor Monday as he sat a few feet away from Brian Sandoval in his capital office.
A ticket of Heller-Angle is favored, but ...: Sunday, March 20, 2011; Dean Heller is not God, but Sharron Angle is manna from heaven.
Race for mayor, like office, not serious: Friday, March 18, 2011; When he won the mayor’s race 12 years ago, Oscar Goodman set the bar low for substance.
Road to the Senate in 2012 has same Angle as 2010: Wednesday, March 16, 2011; Sharron Angle has such magical powers that she may create not one, but two U.S. senators.
Secretary of state pulls no punches in Reid probe: Sunday, March 13, 2011; If anyone thought Ross Miller was going to fake it, think again.
The Family pitch: 'Want to Keep What’s Working and Take It to the Next Level?': Friday, March 11, 2011; Carolyn Goodman has a beautiful new mail piece that talks about her being a "doer" since she was a toddler on ice skates until she became attached to whatshisname. Subtle.
SOS to Rory Reid and fellow schemers: Show me your records: Friday, March 11, 2011; Secretary of State Ross Miller has sent a letter to former gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid and others involved in that ploy to funnel $750,000 through shell PACs to his campaign.
Rory Reid’s lawyer defends legality of contributions: Friday, March 11, 2011; It was an unfortunate comparison, but all too apt.
Die was cast for Ensign almost two years ago: Wednesday, March 9, 2011; What happened on June 16, 2009, changed everything, and not just for John Ensign.
Rory Reid’s house of cards crumbles: Sunday, March 6, 2011; Rory Reid kept using the word “transparent” last week to describe an elaborate ruse so he could accept a $750,000 contribution from a single political action committee — 75 times the legal limit.
SOS elections official: Reid's attorney asked about bundling, not outlawed "conduit contributions": Friday, March 4, 2011; So says Program Officer Kristi Geiser in a statement I have obtained.
Consternation, coronation and confusion: Friday, March 4, 2011; Of expiring careers, mayoral mash-ups and Henderson indecision — here’s your Friday’s Flash of the week’s events:
Both sides in public employee debate lose perspective, facts: Wednesday, March 2, 2011; During the discussions of the Las Vegas Chamber’s latest public-employees-are-rich study and of whether what happens in Wisconsin stays in Wisconsin, a familiar missing element in political discourse is absent: proportionality.
Deja vu Depression sets in: Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011; On Jan. 24, after Gov. Brian Sandoval gave his State of the State speech, here’s what we knew:
A sense of the census: Clark, Hispanics keys to 2012: Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011; I’ve already told you about the lawsuit filed to coincide with the release of Nevada’s census numbers today – you can see the data yourself.