Nevadans should demand ethical leadership

As citizens committed to ethical government, we were captivated by the hearings of the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The committee not only told a shocking tale of the ongoing threat to our democracy but demonstrated the need for honest elected officials who will uphold their oaths to defend our Constitution, even in the face of political pressure and threats of violence. As concerned citizens and members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, we urge Nevadans to elect representatives who will defend our right to be governed by the will of the people, not a politician’s will to remain in power, and whose primary loyalty is to truth and country, not political party or individual.

Committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney and Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers both put the constitutional oath, pursuit of truth and protection of democracy above personal and partisan interests. Rep. Cheney, R-Wyo., has been fearless in demanding accountability for Jan. 6. She reminded us that “(t)o believe … Trump’s election lies, you must believe that dozens of federal and state courts who ruled against him, including many judges he appointed, were all corrupted and biased, (and) that all manner of crazy conspiracy theories stole our election from us.”

Cheney lost her primary election in August.

Facing constant pressure from Trump and his allies to overturn Arizona’s 2020 election results, Bowers testified, “It is a tenet of my faith that the Constitution is divinely inspired … and so for me to do that because somebody just asked me to is foreign to my very being. I will not do it.” The Arizona Republican Party subsequently censured Bowers as “unfit to serve,” and he lost his primary election.

In recent polling, the majority of Democratic and Republican respondents said they think U.S. democracy is in danger of collapse, and a plurality of registered voters say the threat to democracy is the most important issue facing the country.

Nevada is not immune from these threats. Many candidates here have perpetuated the big lie, advocated for overturning lawful election results and continue to attack our election system as fraudulent.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt was the face of the big lie in Nevada. He refused to say whether he would accept the 2022 election results and has not denounced the big lie. Republican secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant, who founded the America First Secretary of State Coalition, said he would not have certified Nevada’s 2020 election results and that he and Trump lost that year because of a rigged election. Marchant, who is running to supervise Nevada’s elections, said, “(w)hen my coalition of secretary of state candidates get elected, we’re going to fix the whole country and … Trump is going to be president again.”

As Ben Franklin said, Americans have “(a) republic, if (we) can keep it.” Nevada voters can choose to keep it by electing officials who will uphold their constitutional oaths of office and support efforts to prevent election subversion and state election board takeovers, protect poll workers, ensure election records and infrastructure are secure, and prohibit disinformation campaigns that undermine election integrity.

Kendal Weisenmiller and Melodee Wilcox are members of members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. They live in Las Vegas.