We clearly need better political parties here in the state of Nevada — but a divided government might just suffice in the meantime. 

The next few months in Carson City will be defined by gridlock and political division as the Democratic legislature clashes with our newly elected Republican governor. And while that might seem like a painfully unproductive game of political tug-of-war, it’s actually something quite worth celebrating for the growing bloc of Nevadans who don’t neatly align themselves with the narrow political views of either major political party. 

Nevada, after all, is most definitely a “purple” state — however, its swingy political nature isn’t merely because Republicans and Democrats have similar shares of the state’s voter registrations. Instead, its purple characteristics are thanks largely to the growing segment of voters who find both parties to be unrepresentative and unattractive. Indeed, the complex policy preferences of Nevadans seem increasingly out of sync with the policy priorities of partisan loyalists, giving the state an unusually large share of truly independent voters. 

In case the recent election wasn’t a big enough indicator of such electoral complexity among Nevadans, a new poll by OH Predictive Insights for The Nevada Independent shows just how independently-minded voters in the Silver State have become — and how in need they are of more representative political parties. 

According to the poll, in a generic congressional race 38 percent of respondents would prefer a Democratic candidate, compared to 37 percent who prefer a Republican. And while that might seem like a dead heat, the real story isn’t that both parties are in a virtual tie — it’s that both major parties are just barely capable of growing support beyond a mere third of voters on the generic ballot. 

Certainly, Democrats feel fairly emboldened by the fact that, despite having lost the governorship, they walked away from the 2022 election with a near super-majority in the Legislature. However, they should temper their confidence with a bit of humility, given the fact that some of the new Republican governor’s top priorities seem to be quite popular among the very same voters who helped keep Democrats in charge of the legislative branch. 

Nearly three-quarters of Nevada voters, for example, supported Gov. Lombardo’s proposal for a voter ID law — an “election integrity” issue that Democrats have already declared will be “dead on arrival” in the Legislature. There are those who would have expected the proposal to be “dead on arrival” with voters as well, considering the way Nevadans flatly rejected GOP candidates who relentlessly cast aspersions on the integrity of the state’s voting process. 

Regardless of how one might feel about the policy itself, widespread support for it (even among those who voted Democratic) is evidence that many voters don’t fit the simplistic partisan molds of our two-party political system. Indeed, previous polls in Nevada have demonstrated similar complexity among voters — with policy preferences that plainly don’t comport with “red vs. blue” party platforms. 

For political leaders, this complexity among voters means neither party will be capable of earning a democratic “mandate” by continuing to pander primarily to their respective bases. In today’s purple electoral landscape, broad support simply isn’t going to be earned by Republicans acting like Republicans, nor from Democrats acting like Democrats. It’s going to require a departure from the all-or-nothing ideological purity tests that have increasingly narrowed each party’s appeal. 

Of course, there’s little reason to expect either party will depart from obsessively throwing red meat to the most vociferous and fringe elements of their base. The days of big-tent politicking are seemingly long gone, as activists and partisan loyalists increasingly make it a priority to punish, attack and cull “non-believers” and dissenters from their own ranks. 

It would be preferable for our political leaders to reject the current trend of hyper-partisan politicking, but a little legislative gridlock might just be a decent alternative for the time being. After all, the moderation and compromise that is needed to make progress in a divided government isn’t some unintended consequence that was unforeseen by voters who split their tickets between the two parties in the last election — it was likely the entire point. 

Such necessary compromise will, undoubtedly, frustrate the partisans who dream of steamrolling their opposition and establishing a one-party rule in Nevada. For the rest of us, however, a divided government has the benefit of forcing politicians to gravitate toward the middle — even when partisan supporters have little or no interest in doing so. 

This doesn’t mean everything coming out of Carson City in the next few months will be worth celebrating. After all, “bipartisan” isn’t necessarily synonymous with “good” or “reasonable.” Plenty of abhorrent pieces of legislation have, historically, been passed with support from both parties. However, being forced to work with political opponents rather than just against them places a natural limit on any single party’s ability to dramatically overreach — forcing a degree of compromise and moderation that has otherwise become scarce in contemporary politics. 

And, as it turns out, that kind of moderation is far more representative of Nevada’s purple electorate than much of what is usually put forward by partisans pandering to their base — even if it does come with the legislative inconvenience of a bit of gridlock. 

Michael Schaus is a communications and branding expert based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and founder of Schaus Creative LLC — an agency dedicated to helping organizations, businesses and activists tell their story and motivate change. He has more than a decade of experience in public affairs commentary, having worked as a news director, columnist, political humorist, and most recently as the director of communications for a public policy think tank. Follow him at SchausCreative.com or on Twitter at @schausmichael.