Refusal to defend democratic process is irresponsible of Lombardo

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo badly disappointed the community last week when, during the formal announcement of his gubernatorial campaign, he ducked and dodged a question about whether he believed in the Big Lie.

“Do I think there was fraud? I’m not going to give you an answer to that,” Lombardo said.

Although Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a follow-up interview that he saw no evidence of fraud, he still hasn’t categorically disavowed the false claims that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

It’s a cowardly and irresponsible position.

As a law enforcement official, Lombardo’s suggestion that evidence of fraud may exist could reaffirm the beliefs of delusional individuals who think the election was rigged. He must not do that, because it further endangers county and state election officials. It also risks further radicalizing the violent far-right.

For a man with a gun and a badge and the honor of serving Clark County residents, his cowardice in the face of anti-democratic forces speaks volumes about his unfitness to be governor.

Nevada deserves brave leaders who are not afraid to take a stand for what’s right, even if it costs them politically. Lombardo has crossed his name off that list.

It forces us to suspect he’s one of these limb-backboned Vichy Republicans, willing to go along with horrors while daintily trying to avoid responsibility.

In deflecting the question about the Big Lie, Lombardo opened himself to a lot more questions. Is he in line with the far-right leaders in Nevada’s state Republican Party who tried to force state and local elections officials to overturn the results of the election? Is he OK with a party that censured Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske over her refusal to abet their subterfuge? Does he mind that individuals associated with the violent Proud Boys group played a pivotal role in that vote, or that the party’s chairman pooh-poohed their involvement? Does he approve of the Proud Boys?

While Lombardo lacks the courage to take a stand, he’s actively undermining his current position by putting other public officials at risk. Across the nation, and in Nevada, election officials are exposed to death threats because of the Big Lie. By refusing to proudly stand behind democracy and the officials who faithfully administer the vote, Lombardo is throwing them to the wolves. This is a flagrant violation of his oath of office and, as he grovels in fear before the conspiracy theorists, Lombardo places other much braver and noble people, and their families, at risk.

This calls into question his judgment and the need to have other eyes on him when it comes to election-related issues, because he has significantly damaged the trust a public should expect to have in a sheriff.

If Lombardo was the tough guy he pretends to be, he would admit that President Joe Biden won the election fair and square. He would run on honesty and courage, and have a platform instead of giving comfort to would-be authoritarians.

While he won’t take a stand on the Big Lie, he did make it clear that he opposes recent bipartisan efforts in Nevada to make voting more accessible. He’s against the expansion of mail balloting and third-party ballot collection, for instance.

Worse yet, his full answer to the central question about voter fraud suggests he would be open to importing other GOP strategies in other states to suppress the vote, disempower communities of color and make it easier for Republicans to overturn results in pursuit of establishing minority party rule.

“I have a good thought on that,” he said. “I don’t know the process of the investigation … I’m not privy to the data, but all I know is I’m moving forward. I’m not moving backward. And what I see is a system that makes it easy for people to commit fraud.”

Lombardo owes it to Nevada’s voters to not loft paranoid balloons but to be precise, extremely precise, with what problems he sees and how to remedy them.

His language — “easy for people to commit fraud” — is dangerous. It’s flatly wrong, as multilayered systems are in place to guard against fraud. In saying the system is ripe for tampering, Lombardo is clearly signaling support for voter suppression.

People of Nevada, remember that: Joe Lombardo wants to make it harder for you to vote.

What Nevada and the Republican Party need are GOP candidates who aren’t afraid to stand up to the party’s lies and stop its assault on democracy.

As we’ve seen recently, a small number of Republicans are stepping up, including Clark County party members who are pushing back against the leadership’s encouragement of violent extremists, its attempted purge of moderates, its promotion of the Big Lie, etc.

There are honest Republicans faithful to democracy in our state. Sadly, none are running for governor, as of this writing.