Did Settelmeyer vote to give undocumented immigrants driver's licenses?

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: Who had the best Q1 fundraising? Plus: Settelmeyer's team addresses his record on driving authorizations for undocumented immigrants, Titus takes Lombardo admin to task on firing the state water engineer, and what Trump and O'Donnell talked about in Vegas last week.

President Donald Trump met with Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) on Thursday and is finally homing in on Nevada's congressional races; expect more national attention in the coming weeks as the first ballots begin arriving in the mail. 

We're also in the process of rolling out our series previewing major primary races; check out Oona Milliken's dive into the nasty Clark County Commission GOP primary between Albert Mack and Assm. Heidi Kasama here.

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

Major donors give to Nevada candidates to kick off 2026

Tens of millions of dollars poured into Nevada political campaigns from January through March, and our team's eyes glazed over dug through them to find out top donors and trendlines you won't find anywhere else.

You can read all the details on the fundraising in congressional, legislative and local governments in our story here, and last week's story on major state-level candidates including governor and attorney general here. 

— Tabitha Mueller

What we're reading and writing

"She owes no one," one Las Vegas philanthropist said of gubernatorial candidate Alexis Hill (D). 

One attendee at Trump's Vegas roundtable called for changing the Constitution to make him president again. 

Who's to blame for high gas prices?

A billionaire is playing in the Nevada governor's race

D.C. Download

Lake Mead's water level is plummeting, putting Southern Nevada's water supply at risk. On Friday, the federal government made emergency cuts to releases from Lake Powell that will further exacerbate the problem. 

I spoke to Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), whose district includes Hoover Dam and part of the lake, about her plans to address the crisis. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MR: What solutions do you support? 


DT: Conservation … a fair deal with the seven states … funding for projects that improve the transfer of water from the source to the tap … recycling ... a sustainable growth policy, that you just can't keep building and building, and that you're not saving water when you're making one house use less just to give more to a new house. … I think you need tax incentives for infill.

MR: What are you doing here in D.C. to advance these solutions? 


DT: We got funding for Boulder City to start a long-term recycling project to put water back into the river. We've supported getting the funding that's been tied up and is still tied up to help bring the dam up to speed with $50 million … I helped get into the bipartisan infrastructure bill … $8.3 billion just for water projects across the West. … I got the Sloan Canyon bill through, which is a way to bring water from the dam that will support parts of Henderson and development along I-15 … Something else that we're looking at is how much water [is] being used by data centers. This is a big new element in the water argument. Now you think of data centers as using electricity, but they also use a lot of water, and there's a big build-up of resistance.

MR: What regulations would you support on their water use? 


DT: I have said that there shouldn't be … a lands bill to encourage more growth until we get the water issue resolved. And one way you can do that is put a cap on new houses that are built until the water reaches a certain level. …
I think something like that for data centers would kind of be a way to look at it. … I'll turn to the experts on that… I don't know who they got as an expert now. They fired the guy there before who was ruling against mining.

MR: Did Gov. Lombardo set a bad precedent when his administration fired the state water engineer?

DT: It's kind of in keeping with his approach to things, he got rid of the water engineer 'cause mining didn't like him. He let Boring drill, 'cause they put pressure … So, seems to be a lot of succumbing to pressure of special interests as opposed to concern about sustainability. 

Editor's note: Lombardo spokesman Drew Galang said this allegation was "divorced from reality," calling the firing "a personnel decision made by the [agency] Director" and calling certain citations against Boring "rightfully withdrawn."

— Mini Racker

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Indy Ad Watch

An Instagram ad from retired Lt. Col. David Flippo (R) repeats former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's recent accusation that former state Sen. James Settelmeyer (R-Minden) "voted for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants," an attack which former Border Patrol head Greg Bovino has also spread. 

The ad cites Settelmeyer's vote for SB303, a 2013 bill that implemented driver authorization cards for undocumented immigrants, which only one senator voted against. 

"Driver Authorization Cards were signed into law by a GOP Governor during a time when states were looking for ways to have meaningful impacts on public safety," a Settelmeyer campaign representative told The Indy. "That legislation required participants to report to a DMV, pass tests, provide proof of identity, and information on physical location. The Nevada Legislature worked to keep people safe and accounted for at a time the Federal Government had no plan for immigration enforcement."

So far, advertising in the race has been sparse, especially given its competitiveness. The spots currently tracked by AdImpact name only retiring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), though Flippo reported $200,000 in payments for media buys and tens of thousands more for web ads. On the Democratic side, wealthy investor Greg Kidd (D) reported spending about $20,000 on billboards.

— Mini Racker

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Green Party officials try to stop corporation spending in Nevada elections

Leaders for the Nevada Green Party have filed a petition to prohibit corporations in Nevada from giving to candidates, political action committees and ballot initiatives.

Any violator could be subject to a fine, suspension of its corporate rights or revocation of its authority to conduct business in Nevada.

The proposal is an initiative petition, meaning it will not appear on this year's ballot. Instead, if it receives 148,788 signatures by mid-November, it will be brought before the Legislature next year. If lawmakers do not act on it in time, it would be placed on the 2028 ballot.

It is not an official Green Party proposal, but rather a private effort from party officials.

The proposal would have drastic implications on Nevada elections, where corporations play a key role in bankrolling political campaigns. It mirrors a similar effort in Montana, said Margery Hanson, co-chair of the Nevada Green Party.

"The people who are supposed to be representing us … are representing their corporate donors," she said. "If we remove the corporate donors, then they have to represent us again."

Asked whether corporations could still skirt the law by donating through a person rather than an entity, Hanson said language against contributing "indirectly" seeks to stop this.

These types of efforts typically receive legal challenges, though none has been filed yet. Hanson acknowledged the proponents do not currently have the resources to challenge a lawsuit.

— Eric Neugeboren

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Mini Series

🤝 Trump's endorsees celebrate his visit — Last week, Trump endorsed state Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Las Vegas) and video game composer Marty O'Donnell in the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts. Both candidates attended his visit on Thursday. 

• Buck and O'Donnell both said that they didn't know about the endorsements until Trump called them directly last Tuesday. "It's an incredible honor," said Buck. "He's actually watching what's happening in Nevada and wants to make sure that I can deliver." 
• The composer previously criticized Trump on social media, but has since become a staunch supporter. O'Donnell said that during their phone call, Trump said, "anything that's happened in the past is in the past." He also said that Trump told him, ""I really believe you're going to be able to beat Susie." The two met briefly in Las Vegas Thursday and discussed the huge online reaction to the news.
• O'Donnell is running against Susie Lee, who has made Nevadans' access to health care and the expiration of the enhanced subsidies from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) key elements of her re-election strategy. O'Donnell told The Indy he believed the ACA was "essentially a bankrupt system … In the future, the ACA is dead and should be dead and gone."
• Both candidates said they support Trump's military operations in Iran and believe high gas prices are attributable more to California gas policies than the war. 

✅ Teamsters split on attorney general endorsement  — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 533, which is based in Reno, endorsed Treasurer Zach Conine (D) for Nevada Attorney General. 

• SCOOP: Interestingly, the broader coalition of Teamsters Nevada will announce it endorsed Conine's opponent, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas), on Tuesday, The Nevada Independent has learned. 

📈 Mail ballot dashboard coming soon — The secretary of state's office is rolling out an online dashboard for the June primaries that will allow the public to see real-time data on mail ballots, including amount received, number accepted and those needing a signature cure.

💯Si se puede — A new poll from the liberal Latino advocacy group Somos Votantes found that among likely Latino voters, Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) has a 21 percentage point lead over Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial elections (52 to 35 percent). The poll from the nonprofit surveyed Latinos in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. 

• Across the surveyed states, the poll found that Latinos have a decisive Democratic tilt, growing increasingly dissatisfied with the economy and war in Iran. In Nevada, about 52 percent of likely Latino voters surveyed identify as Democrats versus 35 percent who identify as Republicans. Only 13 percent of Latinos surveyed identified as Independent. 

— Kate Reynolds, Tabitha Mueller, Eric Neugeboren, Isabella Aldrete and Mini Racker

Looking Ahead

• Friday, April 24  — Military-overseas ballots must be sent out
• Saturday, April 25 — County clerks begin reporting information about mail ballots to the secretary of state on a daily basis

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We'll see you next week.