Nevada Assemblyman and former Metro Police assistant sheriff Tom Roberts, left photo, and former Metro Undersheriff Kevin McMahill, right, are candidates for Clark County sheriff. The two participated in separate interviews Sept. 21 and 22, 2021, with the Sun’s editorial board in Henderson.
Monday, Oct. 4, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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In Sunday’s issue of the Sun, readers saw responsible leadership on display in the answers provided by Clark County sheriff candidates Kevin McMahill and Tom Roberts to questions pertaining to the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
Both candidates answered the questions forthrightly in separate interviews, which was a refreshing change from candidates in another key race: the Republican primary for governor, where the front-runners first ran away from the question and then refused to answer, or worse, alleged without evidence that their might have been fraud.
For the record, both Roberts and McMahill unhesitatingly acknowledged that Joe Biden was the rightfully elected president of the United States. Neither believed there was significant fraud in the election, and neither expressed support for the Nevada state Republican Party’s censure of Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske over the election.
Finally, both condemned the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.
McMahill and Roberts served potential voters well in answering the questions. We believe it’s critical for voters to know where candidates stand on the issue, even those running for nonpartisan positions like sheriff, which is why we’re asking a uniform set of questions on the subject to every candidate. Regardless of the race, voters should know candidates’ stances on an issue that is pivotal to maintaining the democracies of our state and our nation.
As voters know, however, too many candidates are allowing the unfounded lies about fraud to persist. The three leading Republican candidates for governor are chief among them: former Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, current Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.
Lombardo and Lee have refused to answer the Sun’s questions on numerous occasions. As for Heller, the closest he came to answering questions on the subject was during his campaign kickoff announcement when he said he knew who the president was, but wouldn’t say if it was Biden or former President Donald Trump.
We’re going to keep right on asking the questions, and continue pointing it out when candidates slap voters in the face by not answering them.
This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. It’s a matter of defending democracy and protecting access to the vote, which is the duty of every American.
But these GOP candidates are clearly treating this as a political issue.
McMahill and Roberts, on the other hand, did what was easy, right and proper. To their credit, they felt it was appropriate for voters to know their opinions on the issue.
They were right. Clark County residents should know that the next sheriff will uphold our democratic processes and protect election workers from threats leveled by the extremist right and violent groups like the Proud Boys, who have been welcomed into the state GOP.
The sheriff’s duty is to protect and serve all residents of the community, and thus it’s critical for that person not to be beholden to a party.
That’s why Lombardo’s cowardice and pandering on the issue is particularly appalling. This community deserves to know that he’s fully committed to maintaining the peace for everyone, and wouldn’t compromise for the purposes of winning a partisan primary.
Lee isn’t serving the people of North Las Vegas well in this regard, either, by forcing them to wonder whether their mayor’s allegiances lie with them or with a party that has devolved into extremism.
Heller has come closest among the three to endorsing the Big Lie, saying he believed there were problems with the election and stating he would have tried to remove Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria from office if he’d been in position to do so. This is an unforgivable smear of Gloria, Cegavske and the hundreds of other election officials and volunteers who worked diligently last year to facilitate a safe and fair election during the pandemic. Beyond being unfair attacks on the character of these individuals, Heller’s remarks stoke animosity against them among extremist members of the GOP.
With all three of these candidates, Nevadans deserve better.
Meanwhile, with eight months left before the primary election, we’ll encourage McMahill and Roberts not to waver their position on the Big Lie. They showed good judgment in rejecting it.
