Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee playing coy about run for governor

Leadership Assembly With NLV Mayor John Lee

Steve Marcus

North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee takes questions from students during a virtual leadership assembly at the Somerset Academy, a charter school in North Las Vegas, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. Lee was the featured speaker.

CARSON CITY — If North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee isn’t seriously considering a run for governor, he’s doing a good impression of someone who is.

He appeared on “Fox and Friends” in February to dramatically announce his conversion to the Republican Party. He recently completed a barnstorming-style tour of all 17 Nevada counties. And he’s done little to tamp down speculation.

Asked directly if he plans on trying to unseat Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, Lee traversed the subject like a firewalker making his way across a bed of hot coals. He stepped gingerly — not yes, but definitely not no.

“There’s a lack of leadership in this state right now and I’m being told about it from a lot of places, and I’m concerned about it,” Lee said, leaving it at that.

Lee said it would be too early to announce any plans for future involvement in state issues. The deadline for candidates to declare a run for governor is still some 10 months away.

So, in the interim, Lee hit the road, traveling from Democratic strongholds in Southern Nevada to the ruby red rural counties up north.

About two weeks after his appearance on Fox, the former longtime Democrat announced he would visit every county in the state to meet with “Republican leaders and activists.”

“I wanted to meet as many people as I could in these counties to assess the situation,” said Lee, who wrapped up his trip last month.

So, what did he learn?

Lee said those outside of the Las Vegas and Reno areas expressed a “sense of hopelessness” that they are not viewed as important.

They “wish they were more included in understanding what the leadership of the state is trying to accomplish,” Lee said.

One of his goals was to learn what the state could do to work with and help local governments, he said. Issues he heard about included labor and housing shortages, gaps in Department of Motor Vehicle services and the need for more Nevada Highway Patrol troopers.

“The other thing I recognized is these counties aren’t looking for the state to bail them out … They’re running their governments efficiently,” Lee said. “What they’re looking for is to get some return on their tax dollars and the state services they’ve been paying for.”

Las Vegas-area political consultant Rory McShane said he expects Lee to announce a run for governor soon. While Lee will likely excite some voters due to his recent party switch, his history as a Democrat may not play well with some Republican voters.

Lee has has also served as a Democrat in the state Assembly and Senate.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of people who are happy that he’s emblematic of blue-collar Democrats leaving the party. But I don’t think that’s going to change the fact that he sat in the state Legislature as a Democrat and voted for the Democrat agenda,” McShane said.

Lee’s switch to the GOP came as rumors over Republican challengers to Sisolak began to swirl. Besides Lee, names being floated as potential contenders include Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, former Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison and Northern Nevada U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei.

Sisolak beat former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt in the 2018 gubernatorial race by 40,000 votes, a margin of about four percentage points.

Republicans view the governor’s mansion as a potential pickup next year in the first election of the post-Donald Trump era.

Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald said Sisolak’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has left voters dissatisfied and called the gubernatorial race a “big focus” going in to 2022.

People’s discontent over high unemployment rates and other economic damage caused by the pandemic have McDonald optimistic about Republicans’ chances.

The question remains how many Republicans might jump into the governors race, and if some back out to avoid a primary fight.

GOP candidates “are going to have very strong message,” McDonald said. “They’ll define themselves about how they got through the pandemic and what they would’ve done during the pandemic.”