To sue or not to sue? Legal fights against feds a major theme in attorney general race

Editor's note: This is our second story previewing the attorney general race. For a closer look at the candidates' policy positions, click here.

Suing the federal government has become a frequent function of the Nevada attorney general, and whether that continues could hinge on who wins the November election.

Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) has been a plaintiff in 56 lawsuits against the federal government during President Donald Trump's second term, winning the vast majority of cases that have been ruled on. These lawsuits typically target federal policies and decisions seen as harmful to Nevadans, from cuts to the state's share of the Colorado River to attempts to intervene in elections.

But with two years left in Trump's second term, the next attorney general will face a key question: Keep up the deluge of lawsuits against the federal administration or scale them back?

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D) and lawyer Adriana Guzmán Fralick (R) have both noted they are willing to sue the federal government no matter who is in the White House if it would help Nevadans.

But their positions diverge when it comes to suits so far against the Trump administration.

Cannizzaro said she would "absolutely" sue the administration, while Guzmán Fralick said that "some were necessary and I'm behind all that, but the majority of them, I think, were just politically driven."

The candidates also have different opinions on Trump, with Cannizzaro giving his administration an "F" and Guzmán Fralick — whom Trump has endorsed — saying he has done a "really good job."

Since the start of Trump's second term, Ford's office has joined other states in dozens of lawsuits. These challenges have covered everything from the administration's hardline immigration policies to the dismantling of federal programs. Nevada has also been a lead party in four multistate lawsuits related to upending election processes and limiting access to student loans.

Although the candidates say they are open to suing anybody, the data shows lawsuits are much more likely to happen when the attorney general and president are members of different parties. For example, Ford has been a plaintiff in almost 90 lawsuits across Trump's two terms, but during President Joe Biden's tenure, he filed five suits.

The race is not just a clash of positions, but also a clash of backgrounds.

Cannizzaro has been in elected office for the past decade and has worked as a criminal prosecutor in Clark County. Guzmán Fralick, meanwhile, has held many positions in local and state government but has only run for office once before —  finishing third out of five candidates in a 2012 bid for state board of education.

Guzmán Fralick has also never served as a criminal prosecutor, instead focusing on civil cases while working for the Carson City District Attorney's Office.

What would warrant a lawsuit?

Cannizzaro said her approach to suing the federal government would follow her overall plan as attorney general.

"Any time that anyone comes and tries to violate the rights of Nevadans, I am ready to stand up to that, and I am not afraid to take anyone," she said.

Notably, Cannizzaro did not answer whether she would not have pursued any of Ford's lawsuits.

Meanwhile, Guzmán Fralick has said one of her barometers is whether the lawsuit would help Nevadans. 

In a recent interview on Nevada Newsmakers, Guzmán Fralick referred to an example from her time as a lawyer in Gov. Jim Gibbons' (R) office. 

Guzmán Fralick wanted the state to file a lawsuit against a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring people to sign up for health insurance. But because the attorney general — now-Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) — was a Democrat, Guzmán Fralick helped Gibbons seek outside counsel to represent the state. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld this provision.

"The people that couldn't buy insurance would now be forced to buy insurance," she said. "That definitely affected Nevadans."

Guzmán Fralick also said she still opposes the Affordable Care Act, saying "I was able to afford insurance before … and now I can't." Cannizzaro said ending the Affordable Care Act would "cost hundreds of thousands of Nevadans their healthcare."

After the Affordable Care Act, national healthcare spending has increased alongside other costs, but the rate of growth has slowed dramatically. Nevada's share of people without health insurance has also plummeted because of an expansion of Medicaid that the legislation allowed states to pursue.

Asked if there were any lawsuits against Trump that did not benefit Nevadans, Fralick referred to one that sought to keep funding flowing for food stamps during the government shutdown. That came after a dispute over using state funds to fund the program. The case was eventually deemed moot after the government reopened.

Her campaign also said Nevadans are not helped by a June lawsuit challenging the purging of "diversity, equity and inclusion" language from federal contracts.

What else has taken center stage

The race isn't all about whether a candidate would support suing the feds.

Both candidates have vowed to fight to ensure public safety, but that has also come with attacks from the other side.

Many of the attacks against Cannizzaro relate to a wide-ranging criminal justice bill she supported in 2019 as Senate majority leader. That bill increased the amount of money for a theft to be considered a felony, and subsequent efforts to lower this amount have failed to pass the Legislature with Cannizzaro in charge of the Senate.

"She made Nevada less safe as a result," Fralick said.

In an interview last month, Cannizzaro did not give a clear answer about her stance on the felony theft threshold. Instead she touted a bill she worked on with Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) that increased penalties for "smash-and-grab" burglaries.

Guzmán Fralick's campaign has also highlighted another part of the 2019 bill. It said a low-level trafficking charge would be triggered if someone possessed 100 grams of fentanyl. Four years later, as Nevada grappled with a worsening opioid crisis, lawmakers lowered that amount to 28 grams through a bill backed by Cannizzaro.

Meanwhile, Guzmán Fralick is centering her campaign around helping domestic violence victims, supporting law enforcement, imposing stricter sentencing laws and ending child exploitation.

"The one thing that differentiates me from my opponent is just my stance on being tough on crime," she said.

However, Cannizzaro has emphasized the fact that Guzmán Fralick has never been a criminal prosecutor. 

"I understand what it means to look at the facts of a case, especially as a criminal prosecutor, to walk in, to look at the cases that our law enforcement agencies have put together every day," Cannizzaro said.