Michelle Rindels / AP
In this photo taken Aug. 7, 2015, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt poses for a portrait in Carson City.
Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 | 2 a.m.
Gov. Brian Sandoval is shown in his office April 17, 2015, at the Capitol in Carson City. The Republican is refusing to release any text messages he's had with NV Energy representatives despite a public records request.
On Thursday, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt added the state to a lawsuit filed by Elko and Eureka counties and mining companies challenging a federal rule protecting the habitat of the sage grouse.
That set off a war of the news releases, with the Republicans’ respective offices dueling throughout the day.
"The federal government's one-size-fits-all sage-grouse plan will greatly hinder Nevada's growth and success," said Laxalt.
"Prematurely embroiling the state in costly litigation at this juncture threatens to compromise future collaborative efforts," said a Sandoval spokesperson. In response, Laxalt’s office called the governor's statement “troubling" and "wrong." Later in the day, it announced that Churchill, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Pershing, Washoe and White Pine counties had also joined the suit. Laxalt's move also drew plaudits from Eureka County Commission Chairman Goicoechea, who said on Friday, "Eureka County separately requested that Governor Sandoval and Attorney General Laxalt both take actions to challenge the flawed federal sage grouse land use plans that we believe will be very detrimental to Eureka County and Nevada. We are grateful that Attorney General Laxalt has heard our and others requests and stepped up to join the legal challenge of the federal sage grouse land use plan amendments." He added that he did not believe that Laxalt's move would "divert resources away" from other efforts to protect the sage grouse.
It’s not the first time that two ambitious politicians have clashed in public. In January, soon after being sworn into office, Laxalt added Nevada to a suit challenging President Barack Obama’s decision to defer the deportation order on some undocumented immigrants without consulting Sandoval. As in the recent case, the split revealed political disagreements between the two men. Sandoval favored the sage grouse protection; Laxalt opposed it. Sandoval is to Laxalt’s left on immigration reform.
Because attorneys general are elected separately from governors and have the legal authority to act independently, occupants of the two offices can clash. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal highlighted about a dozen states in which divided partisan control of the two offices has led to disagreements. In Colorado, the attorney general has joined a lawsuit challenging the administration’s environmental rules — regulations that its governor supports. Similar conflicts have occurred in North Carolina and Maine.
What makes Nevada’s conflict surprising is that the two men share a common political party.
The split between the two encapsulates a philosophical divide in the state’s Republican party, with Sandoval representing the moderate wing and Laxalt the conservative. That doesn’t mean the two are at odds across the board. Sandoval and Laxalt have agreed on a suit over federal clean water regulations and a legal defense of Nevada’s school voucher program.
Just don’t expect them to sing "Kumbaya" together at the next Lincoln Day dinner.
Editor’s note: This story has been revised to correct an error regarding communications between Laxalt and Sandoval.
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