Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford speaks to the Las Vegas Sun editorial board Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.
Published Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022 | 2 a.m.
From the race for Nevada attorney general to state controller, polling indicates many down-ballot contests in the upcoming midterm elections will be closely contested.
Take a recent poll conducted by OH Predictive Insights and The Nevada Independent that found Republicans leading in the secretary of state, treasurer and controller races by eight percentage points each.
Republican lieutenant governor contender Stavros Anthony led incumbent Democrat Lisa Cano Burkhead by 11%, the poll found.
That poll surveyed 741 likely voters from Sept. 20-29 with a margin of error of 3.6%.
The best news for down-ballot Democrats came in the attorney general’s race, where Democrat Aaron Ford trailed GOP hopeful Sigal Chattah by just 2%.
Here’s a look at who’s running:
Nevada Attorney General
Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, right, speaks alongside Sigal Chattah, planning commissioner for Ward 2 during a town hall meeting at the Sahara West Library in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019. Chattah was selected to the Republican National Committee on Saturday, Jan. 14.
Length of term: Four years
Term limit: Two terms
Job description: The attorney general is the state’s chief legal counsel, a nonpartisan online database for elections, politics and policy in the U.S. That person represents the state in criminal or civil matters, and also serves as legal counsel to state agencies and regulatory boards.
Democratic incumbent Aaron Ford has made consumer protection from scams and anti-competitive activity his top priorities, and touts work securing $330 million in settlements with opioid
manufacturers, according to his campaign site.
Ford is being challenged by conservative attorney Sigal Chattah, who scored political clout among Republicans early in the pandemic after successfully suing to undo restrictions put in place by the state in regards to church capacity during the slow lifting of pandemic restrictions.
Chattah, who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America and the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, pledges to protect Second Amendment rights, religious freedoms and the right to assembly, according to her website. She also lists preventing price gouging from pharmaceutical companies and ending corruption as her top priorities.
On crime, Chattah has posted on Twitter several times that she would introduce legislation to establish mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of gun crimes or persons in possession of a firearm. She often accuses Ford of being “soft on crime.”
Ford, according to his campaign website, in 2019 applauded the signing of Senate Bill 143 into law, expanding background checks of firearms sales to private transactions as well. He’s also voiced support for banning bump stocks, aftermarket gun components that can turn semiautomatic weapons into fully automatic assault-style weapons.
Ford has also touted his Bureau of Consumer Protection for recovering more than $100 million from scammers involving phishing, data breaches and other fraudulent activity.
Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor Lisa Cano Burkhead, alongside Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, speaks during an award presentation for nine schools which will be designated as official Governor STEM Schools on Monday, May 16, 2022.
Stavros Anthony, a Republican candidate for Nevada lieutenant governor, attends a campaign event for Adam Laxalt, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, at The Pass casino in Henderson Friday, Feb. 4, 2022.
Length of term: Four years
Term limits: Two terms
Job description: As the second-ranking officer in the executive branch, the lieutenant governor acts as president of the state Senate and serves as acting governor whenever he or she is out of the state or if the governor is incapacitated. He or she also serves on several executive boards on tourism, recreation and transportation, among others.
Democrat Lisa Cano Burkhead and Republican Stavros Anthony share a similar vision in bolstering small business to improve Nevada’s economic resurgence from the pandemic.
Eliminating barriers to starting a business in Nevada, such as licensing fees, and streamlining other state services to aid small-business owners will go a long way, the two argue.
Beyond that, Cano Burkhead, a longtime public school educator, has made education a priority while Anthony, a former captain with Metro Police and current Las Vegas City Councilman, is emphasizing public safety.
The incumbent Cano Burkhead is seeking her first full term, having been appointed to office in December by Gov. Steve Sisolak after Kate Marshall left to become an adviser in President Joe Biden’s administration.
Cano Burkhead said on her campaign website that “it’s time to start looking at how we reform the current structure of school districts,” to address shortcomings in an education system that ranks near the bottom of the country in standardized test scores. Providing mental health resources and improved vocational classes are key to achieving that, she says.
Anthony has called for a balanced state budget, but an increase for spending in public safety, according to his website. He would also work to promote tourism as well as election integrity, he says.
Nevada Controller
Ellen Spiegel, candidate for state controller, responds to a question during an editorial board meeting at the Las Vegas Sun offices in Henderson Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.
Then-state assembly candidate Andy Matthews talks with reporters following a Make America Great Again Meet-up at the Omelet House in Summerlin Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020. Now, Matthews, Nevada's controller in the Lombardo administration, has joined financial officers from 22 other states, seeking answers on the potential fallout should the federal government default after failing to raise the debt ceiling this week.
Length of term: Four years
Term limit: Two terms
Job description: The state controller acts as the chief fiscal officer and is responsible for administering Nevada’s accounting services, registering vendors and settling claims against the state, as well as collecting debts.
Longtime Democrat Ellen Spiegel was a member of the Assembly from 2009 until 2020, serving on the ways and means, commerce and labor, and revenue committees.
She faces Republican Andy Matthews, a member of the Assembly who serves on the government affairs, health and humans services, and legislative operations and elections committees.
Matthews would prioritize “fiscal sanity” and rein in “runaway” government spending, according to his website. He also opposes new taxes.
“The politicians now in charge in Carson City are forcing reckless, tax-and-spend policies on our state — an irresponsible agenda that is often harmful to Nevada’s job creators, workers, and families,” he writes on his site. “Often, they keep critical information about how our government is operating completely hidden from the public.”
Matthews has outlined plans to increase access to public information, as well as data and insights into the state’s spending. Spiegel has also called for increased transparency, stating she would make a public director of state vendors, and enhance the existing database for vendors to make it easier to bid on state projects.
Under her purview, Spiegel would analyze the state’s purchasing trends, as well as data to address the needs of the state’s workforce. She would also re-prioritize how the state collects on its debts and increase collections to invest more in school and work programs, according to her website.
Nevada Treasurer
Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine responds to a question during an editorial board meeting at the Las Vegas Sun offices in Henderson Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022.
Michele Fiore, the Republican nominee for state treasurer, is accused by her opponent, Democratic incumbent Zach Conine, of engaging in a “straw donor scheme” to conceal the source of donations that would exceed state campaign finance limits.
Length of term: Four years
Term limit: Two terms
Job description: Whereas controller is the state’s chief fiscal officer, the treasurer is responsible for maintaining the state’s investments and the budget. He or she also manages public college savings plans and unclaimed property.
Zach Conine, the Democratic incumbent, is being challenged by Republican Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore.
Fiore, a former member of the Assembly, has touted her role in local government and plans to hire “the best qualified people” and “hold everyone accountable for executing the plan and reporting to the people of Nevada,” according to her survey answers to Ballotpedia. She didn’t respond to an interview request at the Sun.
To do that, Fiore says she will act as a fiduciary and will be obligated to act in Nevadans’ best interests with neither “politics nor personal preference” interfering with her decision making.
In June, after the aftermath of a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Conine announced he would divest $89 million in state funds from companies that manufacture or sell assault-style weapons. Conine’s decision was met by swift opposition by Fiore at the time, and made Nevada the third state, behind Connecticut and Rhode Island, to make such divestments.
Conine is also the chair of the State Infrastructure Bank and is on the board for the College Savings Plans of Nevada, investment accounts with tax benefits that can pay for education expenses.
He also sits on a slew of other state and regional organizations that manage state debt.
