Republican gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert poses for a photo Monday, February 28, 2022. YASMINA CHAVEZ
Friday, March 11, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Joey Gilbert labels himself as the “black sheep” seeking the Republican nomination for Nevada governor, claiming he would not toe the party line if he felt there was a better path forward.
The Reno lawyer and former professional boxer — he says he’ll officially file for election next week — seems to be picking up momentum on the campaign trail in the crowded primary field of 12 expected candidates.
Correcting the record
Joey Gilbert made numerous claims that were unsubstantiated or outright false in our interview, including saying that schools in Florida and Nevada have similar funding. Florida’s K-12 funding is $9,600 per student, or $700 per pupil more than Nevada, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Gilbert also said crime was rising in Southern Nevada, but the state’s crime statistic tracker indicates violent crime in Clark County has gone down annually in four of the past five years. In 2017, there were 13,334 violent crime — defined as murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — cases in Clark County. In 2021, there were 9,771.
He also claims that teachers are saying 40% of their classes are comprised of non-English speakers. And while there could be one singular class heavy on second-language learners, it’s unfair to group all schools in this category. The Clark County School District has the second-highest English-language learner population in the country with close to 80,000 students — or about 24% of the student body.
And, like most Republicans seeking office, Gilbert is wrongly suggesting fraud in the election process.
Remember: Although Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election by more than 30,000 votes in Nevada, many Republicans have cried foul and touted claims that the election was stolen and that mail-in ballots were submitted fraudulently. Those claims have been proven false in court challenges, and Nevada’s Republican Secretary of State has assured the public the election was free and fair and untainted by meaningful fraud.
A November poll of Nevada Republican primary voters by the Tarrance Group put Joey Gilbert in fourth place among the other candidates. And in recent candidate forums Gilbert has gained attention, as one survey of 275 attendees of a Clark County Republican Party forum in February found that Gilbert was able to sway many people’s minds, putting him in second place, next to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Then his past weekend, Gilbert finished first in a straw poll of Elko County Republican precinct members.
Gilbert, in an interview with the Sun, said if elected he planned to focus on improving education, limiting the governor’s powers to institute mandates and states of emergency, and getting crime under control. While he says he’s not always going to follow along with all of the party’s theories, he’s like many other Republicans in promoting inaccurate claims that there was widespread election fraud in 2020, that masks are ineffective in protecting people against COVID-19, and that restorative discipline practices in school means students who commit “heinous” crimes do not get suspended.
He also criticized Gov. Steve Sisolak for banning the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients, talking about how the drug helped his own parents battle COVID-19.
While Sisolak did partially ban the drug, the ban did not apply to patients in hospitals and was meant to prevent people from stockpiling the drug. Research also suggests that the drug is not safe or effective for treating patients with COVID-19, according to the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. The Food and Drug Administration also announced a warning on using it for COVID-19 outside of a hospital setting due to the risk of heart rhythm problems.
Here’s the rest of our conversation:
What pushed you to run for governor?
It’s really simple. It came down to March 2020, the governor’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was completely and totally unacceptable to me. There was a lot of stuff that for me was just like, wow, what’s going on here? The kids being sent home, Sisolak canceling their sports.
I had a real big problem when all the casinos were open, the dispensaries were open, the liquor stores were open, I was standing in a line at Home Depot, but the mom-and-pop shops were closed. The kids were home and the churches were closed. So that didn’t make a lot of sense to me. And now, what’s coming out (is) data (of) emotional, psychological, spiritual, physical development issues all across the board. None of this was necessary.
To give you the big answer of why I’m running is because this state was missing any semblance of leadership. We will never allow our businesses to be closed again. We will never allow our schools to be closed again, our kids to be sent home from school. No governor should ever be able to have a two-year permanent emergency. It’s absurd. What does a real leader do? Gives the power back to the people.
What would be your biggest priorities?
My No. 1 would be schools. Education is the biggest one. Depending on where you go in the state, the top five things I hear all the time are the schools, the COVID mandates of any type, closing businesses down and the nonsense that went along with it. Election integrity is a big one. The economy is obviously a big one. And then crime.
Crime has exploded down here. Crime has hit record levels since 2017 through 2022. Who’s been the sheriff? The guy (Joe Lombardo) running for governor. (Las Vegas has) twice the national average of violent crime, a 30% increase in car jackings. A 110% increase in homicides. We need to make sure that people that commit crimes and hurt people aren’t released the very same day with no bail.
When I talk to teachers, they say, “the problem is 40% of our class doesn’t speak English. We have to teach them anyway.” I’m not saying anything. I’m saying how do we fix this. We have to start looking outside the box. We’re funded the same rate as Florida, and Florida schools are third (in national ranking for K-12 achievement). So money isn’t the issue. You got so much waste going on. I looked at the Washoe County budget (and) the Clark County School District budget, you could privatize many of these services and save 30%. Every kid in this valley could have a new computer. We could put up learning labs where you have 24-hour-a-day tutors, meals, workout centers.
I’d say, obviously the economy, crime, law enforcement and our schools. I would like to see vouchers, (and) charter schools.
How is someone whose home base is in Reno going to be able to govern the entire state? What is your strategy to let Las Vegas residents know that you care about them?
I lived here. I’m not the Northern Nevada guy that knows nothing about it here. I have businesses in both parts of the state and I’ve probably got better relationships in both parts of the state. I have a condo down here now. I’m down here at least once a week, and when things change I’ll probably be spending a lot more time down here. I understand how important Las Vegas is. I understand that there’s 2.5 million people down here. There’s a lot happening here. There’s a lot to address.
You were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 in 2021, and there is a video of you pushing down a barrier. Can you talk about that? Are you a candidate who is pro police and law and order?
I was at the Capitol for a medical tyranny conference. I was not part of the Stop the Steal, although when everybody went up there our entire stage got swept up so we went up there. There were bike barriers that were out way in front of the Capitol. It was getting pushed and pulled. My hands were on it, and yes I walked back with it because it got pushed into me. I was actually shaking law enforcements’ hand. I was thanking them. No one has more respect for law enforcement.
I actually didn’t know what happened. Because we got back to our hotel in Alexandria, Va., right as we were seeing riot police coming. We actually went up on the steps. Everyone’s already up there. We just happened to be on the outer perimeter when that stuff came down.
I don’t regret it. I’m not trying to minimize it. I was there. I absolutely went up and participated in the singing of the national anthem. People did the pledge of allegiance. I don’t know what happened and what went on there. All I know is what I saw with my own eyes, and not a single officer was harmed, not a single vehicle was harmed. And again, I absolutely disavow and think that anybody that went in there and caused any harm, that you broke the law.
One of your plans for fixing education is requiring all graduating seniors to have 200 hours of paid work experience. How did you come up with that, and how would you get that implemented?
You have kids now, all you see them doing is walk around with their mask on and their phone like this. You’ve got a whole generation of kids now who can’t do simple things. I’ll never forget reading a Wall Street Journal article saying that kids today are just off because they don’t have to have those tough conversations with Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They used to call the home phone and say, “Hey is your mom there? How are you sweetie?” And now you don’t have to do that. So I just think, more than anything it’s about getting kids to interact. And that’s what the whole requiring 200 hours of paid work is about integrating them into society. When you get out of high school or whatever it is, it’s not coddling anymore. You’ve got to go to work. I worked at a car wash, I worked at a TCBY, the yogurt place. I bussed tables, I ended up running valet once I got a little older. I think that’s an amazing thing.
Critical race theory is a big talking point for many Republican candidates. Is it one of yours? What proof do you have that it is being taught in Nevada schools?
Besides what the parents show me?
At the end of the day we want our kids to be learning reading, writing, arithmetic, English. They shouldn’t be going to school for social justice.
What kind of election reform do you think is necessary?
I’d like to see an audit of the 2020 election, for sure. But that’s not going to happen right now. What needs to happen right now is precinct captains need to step up because we need to do more locally. We need to make sure we have poll workers that are actually from the state. There should be no one working in the Clark County elections unless they’re from Clark County. There should be no one working in Washoe County elections unless they’re from Washoe County. We have to get rid of the machines. We need paper ballots. We need to clean voter rolls. We need voter ID. We need nonpartisan, fair tabulators. If I have to wait until Thanksgiving to be named the next governor, I’m fine with that. Do it right. What does speed get you? Inaccuracy. What does speed get you? Fraud.
Right now if you go up to the rural counties, you know the first thing they say to you? Why would I bother voting? It’s not going to matter. That’s what the bulk of Elko County will say. There’s always some amount of fraud or issues with it, but I think we can overcome it because there’s going to be so many people who come out to have their voices heard about what went down these last couple years, and I think we can overcome anything.
What do you think of members of the Nevada Republican Party submitting fake electoral certificates in favor of Donald Trump to Congress and the National Archives last year?
I didn’t know what it was, to be honest with you. But I didn’t see any issue with it. They felt how they felt. This is America. You get to do what you feel is right. The Clark County Republican Party, the state Republican Party, I don’t really think those guys are going to be the ones supporting me as much. I don’t feel like I have any allegiance to any party. I believe my allegiance is to the people. I’m the people’s champ for a reason. And if I don’t feel like that’s not in the best interest of the people, then I’m not going to do it just because the party says to do it. I don’t feel like they represent the people. I don’t feel like they are doing what’s best for Nevadans. I want to have the biggest tent possible to bring everybody in, and so yeah I’m a Republican. But more than anything I’m America First.
