John Locher / AP
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, Republican candidate for governor of Nevada, speaks to supporters during an election night campaign event Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Las Vegas. A reporter and photographer from the Las Vegas Sun were not allowed into the event, despite organizers acknowledging an RSVP from the newspaper to attend the event.
Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022 | 2 a.m.
An election night watch party featuring top Nevada Republican midterm candidates at Red Rock Resort was so crowded it couldn’t accommodate a reporter and photographer from the Sun, an organizer tried to claim.
The Sun was credentialed for the event hosted by the political action committee Stronger Nevada, which is backed by billionaire Robert Bigelow of the Budget Suites of America weekly rental chain. Bigelow poured nearly $50 million into midterm campaigns — he spent $23 million to $25 million in Nevada, including giving $5.8 million to Stronger Nevada — to help Republican candidates get elected, most notably Joe Lombardo in his gubernatorial race against Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak.
Claims of a lack of space didn’t seem to be accurate, according to colleagues from other news outlets on the inside. A photographer for the Associated Press messaged Sun photographer Steve Marcus that the event was crowded, but “they took us (up) front for the speakers and there was plenty of room.”
The event was attended by hundreds of Republican supporters, from donors to candidates. The Sun was approved Nov. 3 to cover it.
Rick Gorka, spokesman for Stronger Nevada, told Sun staffers outside the venue that the newspaper couldn’t be accommodated because it wasn’t on the RSVP list. When shown an email confirmation, Gorka responded: “I just got here last week, but any request for the event would have gone through me. I’m sorry, but there is simply no space to accommodate you.”
Gorka also left the check-in table for a few minutes to get guidance and still denied the Sun journalists entry.
Lack of transparency and access to independent media from Republicans this campaign season has become expected.
The watch party featured Lombardo, U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt and U.S. House candidate April Becker. During the lead-up to the election, the three candidates regularly ignored media requests from the Sun.
And Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff, sent text messages in which it appeared he was attempting to conspire to put the Sun out of business.
Stephen J. Cloobeck, a deep-pocketed Democratic donor, reached out to Lombardo on July 29 to detail his new media company. After Cloobeck explained Factz — a “purple” online news site — Lombardo messaged back, “Well that would be fantastic if we can get there. Maybe start by putting Brian Greenspun out of business. I would like to talk to you about it?” Appalled at the suggestion, Cloobeck shared the texts with the Sun.
Lombardo on multiple occasions has told Sun reporters that he’s unhappy with the publication because of its editorial board’s stance — opinion pieces are separate from the newsroom — calling him “cowardly” for refusing to answer reporters’ questions.
The Sun’s editorial board last month was also critical of Bigelow, detailing his attempt to buy the election for Republicans and explaining how a single donor spending this much money for a cause impacts democracy because those making the donation are buying votes and politicians.
The lack of access to Republican candidates is not limited to the Sun.
The Nevada Current, an online news source, is asking the Nevada Press Foundation to consider issuing a statement suggesting that for the sake of democracy and the First Amendment, political parties should not impose blacklists that exclude journalists from election night gatherings.
The Current also wasn’t allowed into the event at Red Rock, editor Hugh Jackson said. Jackson said the site’s reporters weren’t regularly included in emails from Republican campaigns announcing news.
He’s written opinion pieces critical of Lombardo, but said he stressed to Lombardo’s spokesperson that opinion pieces are under a commentary banner and different from news coverage.
