Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Nevada Democratic Party seeks oversight of leadership election

Clean Energy Jobs & Justice Forum

Wade Vandervort

Assemblywoman Danielle Monroe-Moreno speaks during the Clean Energy Jobs & Justice Forum at North Las Vegas City Hall Thursday, June 10, 2021.

CARSON CITY — Representatives from the Democratic National Committee will be in Nevada’s capital city Saturday to monitor the state party Central Committee’s leadership elections, an unusual move some members say is necessary to maintain trust over this weekend’s vote.

In an email to state Central Committee members, Nevada State Democratic Party officials said they invited staff from the DNC and the Association of State Democratic Committees to help implement and conduct the election.

Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Judith Whitmer is fending off a challenge from Assemblywoman Danielle Monroe-Moreno, D-North Las Vegas, who has coalesced a Democratic “unity” slate to unseat her.

“We believe inviting the DNC to work alongside us is an opportunity to affirm the integrity of our election process while demonstrating the absolute commitment of the State Party to protecting the voices of our members,” the email said. “We look forward to Nevada Democrats coming together to shape our party’s future.” 

Representatives with the DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Among those attending Saturday’s meeting will be DNC Deputy Executive Director Roger Lau, Party Affairs and Delegate Selection Director Veronica Martinez, as well as ASDC Deputy Executive Director Sam Parkinson and their respective staffs, according to the email.

In separate letters, dozens of state Central Committee members have voiced concern as early as January regarding guardrails for the upcoming election.

In a letter sent to Whitmer and DNC officials dated Feb. 10, more than 40 Central Committee members said they had “serious concerns regarding the impartiality and validity of the upcoming election. Immediate action is required to ensure a truly democratic election takes place.”

The letter was sent two days after news broke that more than 230 members of the Central Committee were removed from the membership list for what Whitmer called a lack of attendance, including Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizaro.

Many of those removed were subsequently added back to the membership rolls after discrepancies were discovered with the party’s online attendance records.

Members may not miss more than two meetings consecutively, which was a reason for purging the membership roster by nearly 40 percent, Whitmer said.

“Due to an outpouring of concern about our upcoming elections, we felt it was important to publicize the attendance records going back to the start of the 2022-2024 membership term,” Whtmer said in a Feb. 14 statement. She called the step unprecedented but necessary, given the circumstances.

“As is clearly shown in our attendance records, only individuals who have missed two meetings without a proxy or an excused absence have been removed, as is required by our bylaws,” she said. “It’s our hope that these steps will dispel the misinformation being circulated.”

Still, the situation was mentioned by Central Committee members in their Feb. 10 letter as the top reason for concern ahead of Saturday’s vote. They said without transparent access to attendance records, it is impossible to independently verify whether members in good standing were improperly removed.

Members also said election procedures violated the state party’s charter and bylaws, citing issues with an email-based voting system used by members who attend meetings virtually.

“The procedures fail to provide any information regarding the type of electronic voting system being used, how ballots will be digitally signed, how ballots will be tracked and counted, how individual votes will be made public, or how deliverability issues will be avoidable,” the letter states.

In the email sent to Central Committee members on Tuesday, Nevada State Democratic Party officials said they would be using the Election Buddy system to record attendance and facilitate the election of officers for the 2023-2025 term.

Members voting in-person who do not have a digital device for voting will also be able to use voting kiosks provided on-site, the email said. 

The letter sent to Whitmer also included a demand that Saturday’s vote not be held in secret and that all candidates running for leadership positions be able to observe voting records in real-time, including who is voting and for whom their vote is cast.

Finally, members allege Whitmer has been using state party resources, including the official party Twitter account, the official party email list and official press releases to promote her slate’s re-election.

“The misuse of resources by NSDP officers not only undermines the impartial administration of the upcoming elections,” the letter reads. “But (it) also undermines confidence among both State Central Committee members and the public regarding the integrity of the NSDP as an institution.” 

In recent weeks, several prominent Nevada Democratic politicians have publicly urged their conference back Monroe-Moreno’s “unity” slate, including Yeager, Cannizzarro and the entirety of Nevada’s progressive federal congressional delegation, including U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, who won re-election last year in part with the state party’s backing, and Jacky Rosen, who is vying for a second term in 2024.

On Tuesday, former Gov. Steve Sisolak, who lost in November to Republican Joe Lombardo and the only incumbent Democratic governor to lose in the last cycle, issued a statement supporting Monroe-Moreno.

“The Nevada State Democratic Party plays a critical role in Democrats’ success in the state and across the country — from our status as a battleground to our place in the early nominating calendar — and especially when it comes to close elections,” Sisolak said.

“It is the role of the party to support Democratic candidates — not make things harder. Yet in 2022, when Democrats were already facing headwinds in a tough midterm cycle, current party leadership decided to withhold critical voter information from my team, divert critical resources to allies instead of investing in strategic organizing, and went so far as to endorse and financially back my appointed Lt. Governor Democratic primary challenger,” Sisolak said.

In his endorsement of Monroe-Moreno, he said her slate is the “right choice because they understand the responsibility of the State Party and they know what it takes to win tough elections.”

“It’s time to get our reputation as a national model for state parties back,” Sisolak said.