Ad wars begin in Reno's crowded mayoral race

Indy Elections takes you behind the headlines of Nevada politics, delivering scoops and smart analysis on the races that could reshape our lives. You can change your newsletter settings here.

In today's edition: Gird your loins — campaign ad season is coming. Plus: A Q&A with Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) on her clean energy solar fight, interviews with a 2028 hopeful on AI policy and, wait, Jamaal Bowman was in Vegas?  

I spent yesterday in transit to the 2nd Congressional District, so much credit to my colleagues, especially Tabitha Mueller, for today's edition. 

Send recommendations for my first visit to Northern Nevada!

This newsletter is published every week. We want to hear from you! Email your newsletter editor Mini Racker at [email protected]. 

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Aaron Ford pledges he will be "getting rid of" long-standing right-to-work law

Repealing Nevada's 73-year-old "right-to-work" law has long been a white whale for Nevada's organized labor movement — but one that most Democratic politicians have been unwilling to touch. 

But in a deviation, Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) pledged during a union podcast interview that, if elected governor, he would repeal the provision, which bans labor unions and employers from requiring union membership as a condition of employment.

Ford's top primary opponent Alexis Hill has also pledged to repeal the law. Ford has also shared his stance in union endorsement interviews, but did not widely publicize it.

For more on what it means for the election, check out our story here.

— Tabitha Mueller

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What we're reading and writing

🎥🫦 The film tax credit comes back to bite. 

🧑‍⚖️🏃 What happens when no one else decides to run?

💰➗ One primary in particular has divided Nevada's top Democrats.  

📨🔄️ When do you need to send in your ballot to make sure it's counted?

💀⚡ Is Washoe really getting more dangerous?

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D.C. Download: Solar Wars

This month, Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) grilled Energy Secretary Chris Wright about a 2025 memo requiring Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to personally sign off solar and wind projects. A federal judge rejected that policy last week, though the clean energy fight isn't over. On Friday, I interviewed Lee about her strategy; our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

MR: Can you explain the challenges for solar permitting under the Trump admin?

SL: The Trump administration has taken a sledgehammer to solar and wind energy.  It's sort of hypocritical, because they want to do permitting reform, yet, for this type of energy, it has to go all the way to the top. … It's basically so that they can tip the scale in favor of oil and gas development. 

It's almost like a revenge tactic against [President Joe Biden] … [With] the SPEED Act, … I tried many times … to get an amendment that just said, "Let's have parity, don't tip the scale." … As this permitting bill moves, I have some champions in the Senate, with [Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)], who literally won't move this bill until my language, or language similar to mine, makes it into it. So if they want to do permitting reform, they're going to have to deal.

MR: How has Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) done with the administration on this? Will his retirement make it harder for the delegation to interact with the administration?

SL: Well, I expect us to have the majority in the House and possibly the Senate, so … we're going to have a seat at the table come November. I hope Mark can use his retirement maybe to move a lands bill, but honestly, I've engaged with the governor on this issue. I've engaged with a constituent who has a personal friendship with Burgum … I've used every lever I can.  

Burgum recently has given the green light to resume active reviews of roughly 20 solar projects, including some in Nevada. But even if Interior allows a handful of favored projects to proceed, there's been no change in its ongoing underlying weaponization of the permitting process against solar and wind. … At some point, companies are going to take their money and go invest it elsewhere, because there's so much uncertainty. … That's a crazy way to run this country.

— Mini Racker

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Indy Ad Watch: Reno mayor edition

Reno City Council member Kathleen Taylor is launching the biggest ad buy to date in the Reno mayoral race.

The 30-second spot, which began airing Tuesday morning and has not been previously reported, features Taylor speaking with workers and footage of a construction site.

An official told The Indy that Taylor's campaign is rolling out an ad buy this week at more than three times the size of the one from council member Devon Reese's mayoral campaign. 

Reese's initial ad buy was worth about $6,300.

As of Monday afternoon, Reese's campaign has made $31,000 in ad reservations, while Taylor's campaign has reserved about $14,000, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

No ad reservations have been made by mayoral candidate Kate Marshall, a former Nevada treasurer and lieutenant governor.

In other ad news:

• Treasurer candidate Assm. Joe Dalia (D-Henderson) launched his first ad on April 24, a jaunty 30-second clip filmed on his phone "because Joe's all about saving money," his wife, Marina, says in the ad. It's running across social and digital platforms throughout the state, as well as in text messages to voters.
  • Meta's ad library shows the campaign has spent nearly $900 so far to air it on Instagram and Facebook. Dalia's campaign says it will run through the rest of the election cycle.
• Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero released her first re-election ad, "Mayor Michelle." The ad — replete with footage of kids and adults calling out to "Mayor Michelle" — will be running on multiple digital sites and streaming services, her campaign said.

— Eric Neugeboren, Tabitha Mueller and Riley Snyder

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Mini Series

🚛 2028 hopeful discusses AI jobs and the Gen Z vote — Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Steven Horsford (D-NV) were at College of Southern Nevada on Friday for an event focused on preparing workers for artificial intelligence (AI). Along with OpenAI executive Chris Lehane, they discussed how to boost Americans' AI literacy and ensure that companies support workers displaced by tech innovations. 

• Khanna told The Indy he supports mandating human drivers in driverless semitrucks, an increasingly salient policy question as truck driver unions warn of mass unemployment while tech advocates say autonomous vehicles get into fewer accidents. 
• Nevada's last legislative session saw the failure of a bill, SB395, that would have mandated human drivers in autonomous trucks and buses.
  • "We need drivers on driverless trucks," Khanna said. "It's not safe and it would unemploy 4 million people." 
• Khanna also weighed in on how Democrats could appeal to young people.
  • "Show up. Don't cancel people. Speak with moral clarity, not platitudes. Be willing to say what happened in Gaza was a genocide. Be willing to say that we aren't going to give more aid to Israel, we're going to focus on team America," he said.

🐘 National Republicans boost Nevada challengers — Two Trump-endorsed Nevada Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic incumbents in Congress were added Monday to the "MAGA Majority" list maintained by the National Republican Congressional Caucus (NRCC), which highlights candidates in Democrat-held seats that the NRCC believes it can flip in November.

• The two candidates were Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson), running against Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) in Nevada's 1st Congressional District, and Marty O'Donnell, running against Lee in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District. 

🎤 Split over Israel policy crops up in CD3's Democratic primary — Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a progressive whose 2024 re-election bid ended with a primary defeat, was in Las Vegas Sunday for a fundraiser and town hall with Dr. James Lally, an anti-establishment Democrat challenging Lee in the primary for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District. 

• Lally campaign spokesperson Randy Jones told The Indy that Bowman's support of Lally was due to "the level of corporate influence present on [Lee's] financial reports" and Lee's support for Israel. The congresswoman has criticized Israel's attempts to annex territory and has called for more humanitarian aid to Gaza, but has not described Israel's actions as genocide.
• Lee campaign spokesperson Catherine Clancy said in a statement that Lee views Israel as an "important ally." She also touted Lee's many endorsements and "grassroots support" compared to Lally, who Clancy wrote "has only garnered support from a censured former member of Congress."
• The Muslim Caucus of the Nevada State Democratic Party hosted the town hall because it was dissatisfied with special interest groups getting involved in politics, caucus chairwoman Farrah Acheson wrote to The Indy. She cited Bowman's 2024 loss, which was supported by pro-Israel groups, as "a national example of how outside money can heavily influence our democratic process."

📬 Red wave? — Last week, Turning Point Action — a major conservative political action group founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk —launched a "ballot chasing" effort in Nevada. The practice of ballot chasing or "harvesting," where third parties collect mail ballots from voters and deliver them to county election officials to be counted, was legalized in Nevada in 2021.

• Since the 2024 election, however, Turning Point has embraced ballot chasing as a strategy to encourage low propensity voters and push back against Democratic wins "in the ballot game." They have poured millions of dollars into a ballot chasing operation, hoping to flip seats in swing states such as Arizona and Nevada. 
• Turning Point is hiring more than 50 "ballot chase representatives" throughout the state, including in rural Beatty and Tonopah. 

— Kate Reynolds and Isabella Aldrete 

Looking Ahead

• Thursday, May 7  — Former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) is headlining a luncheon fundraiser for Aaron Ford's gubernatorial campaign in Las Vegas.
• Thursday, May 21  — Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank and advocacy organization, is hosting a "Winning the Middle" event in Las Vegas as part of its push to elevate moderate candidates over progressive ones in the 2026 and 2028 elections. 

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A post that caught our eye: 

Thanks for reading Indy Elections, Laura Loomer.

We'll see you next week. 

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