What Lee v. Spearman SD 1 Primary Comes Down to: Values

According to an article in today's Sun, State Senator John Lee (D-North Las Vegas) is quite glad to get by with a little help from his friends.

Lee’s original plan this year was to abandon his Senate seat in favor of running for Congress. He was expected to challenge a darling of the Democratic establishment, Sen. Steve Horsford, in the 4th Congressional District.

But Lee’s decision to drop out of the congressional race seems to have earned him the protection of the Democratic establishment against the liberal activists intent on driving him from office.

Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, who had announced he was running for Lee’s Senate seat, decided to move rather than challenge Lee. Other candidates whom progressives tried to recruit to run against Lee also backed out, before Spearman filed on the last day. [...]

“John is very thankful and grateful for the support of the Democratic Party and Democratic constituents,” said Ryann Juden, Lee’s campaign adviser. “He’s happy and thankful to have their support.”

He said the party’s support has “absolutely” helped.

“In the traditional way a party helps a campaign,” he said. The party has helped provide volunteers and “resources necessary to get out and connect with voters.”

The Democratic Party declined to comment for this story.

That's because the Nevada Democratic Party itself can not endorse in a primary. State and county party bylaws prohibit that. However, the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus has endorsed John Lee. You can see here how "excited" Senate Caucus leader Mo Denis (D-North Las Vegas) was to endorse Lee on live TV.

I suspect other folks listed as endorsers in Lee's recent mailer were much more excited to do it. In addition to a few unions and Democratic electeds, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce endorsed Lee. Remember them? They held up the state budget last year over their preferred legislation weakening benefits and workplace protections for public sector workers. Several other corporate lobby regulars, such as Barrick (mining), Bank of America & the state bankers' PAC, CenturyLink, and the realtors' PAC, also seem quite happy to support.

However contrary to what Lee operatives were hoping, the entire Democratic base isn't exactly on board with his campaign. It's mainly because of whose opinion he seems to value the most.





And not only are the state's progressive groups making noise about their disappointment with John Lee, but they're also backing that up with a real campaign. While they may not be able to fully compete with Lee's "business lobby" support, they are firing back with mailers, web campaigning, and a grassroots field effort.

Here's another key excerpt of David Schwartz's Sun article.

“We think this is the right thing to do, to stand up for Democratic values in a Democratic primary,” said Erin Neff, executive director of ProgressNow Nevada.

Members of the coalition, including the Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, Nevada Conservation League and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Network, “get it,” Neff said.

“They’re putting their name out there in a very difficult way,” she said. “It’s not easy to stand up to your own party.”

Lee, a conservative Democrat, has been progressives’ enemy in Carson City. He often votes against Democratic majorities on key issues for liberals such as domestic partnerships, minimum wage and environmental issues. His tendency to go rogue often required special attention from Democratic leadership to keep him in the fold.

Schwartz then noted the big Democratic allied groups staying out of the SD 1 primary, but he may have missed something quite important. The primary will likely be decided by a smaller (than the general electorate) core of Democratic primary voters who are motivated to get active in local elections, party matters, community affairs, social justice movements, and more because of their values. And their final decision in this primary will likely fall on who they believe best represents and supports what they value.

How much do Democrats in SD 1 value women's rights, full equality for Nevada's LGBTQ families, properly fostering Nevada's economy & environment, and justice for the 99%? And how does John Lee fit into this equation? How Democratic voters in that district answer those questions will be crucial in determining John Lee's political fate and Pat Spearman's political future.

Of course, there will be many more factors in this race. Who has the better ground game? Who contacted more likely primary voters? And who did best with the campaign donations received? But at the end of the day, it's really about the candidates' values and what voters in the district value most.

SD 1 Primary Heats Up As Progressives Churn Out Anti-Lee Mailers

Remember that episode of "The Agenda" last month when Pat Spearman was on? At the end of the program, Elizabeth Crum was asking how Spearman could possibly compete without the kind of money and field operation that Lee has.



Well, it looks like those assumptions Crum made were wrong. Jon Ralston has the latest.

A coalition of progressive groups have mailed the first of what they hope will be nine pieces against state Sen. John Lee, calling him "a millionaire who stands with the richest 1%, not the bottom 99%."

The targeted mailer, posted at right, uses several Lee votes, including against a tenant rights bill co-sponsored by Speaker Barbara Buckley, to contrast him with their candidate, Patricia Spearman.

The folks out to erase Lee are: ProgressNow Nevada Action, Nevada Conservation League, Planned Parenthood and IBEW. Also, MoveOn, PLAN Action and Sierra Club are assisting where they can. [...]

Without the moneyed and populous teachers and Culinary, this is all about phone banks and mail and targeting what will be a small primary universe. Lee will have the money and most of the endorsements, and most insiders think he will win. But with such a small turnout likely, only a few thousand votes will be needed, which has to be making some people, including Lee, a tad nervous.

I had always figured that union organizing muscle would neutralize Lee's Senate Caucus (endorsement) advantage. And I also thought Crum wasn't giving Spearman proper credit for working the field and knocking on so many doors in SD 1 (alongside many enthusiastic volunteers). But now, we're seeing something else that can cut into Lee's incumbency edge... And perhaps turn it against him.

Remember that SD 1 is a heftily Democratic district, so this race will be decided in this primary... And it will be decided mostly by the highest propensity and most hard core Democratic voters. And given John Lee's tendency to join Republicans often to advance their policy priorities, these mailers may come back to bite Lee depending on how many are sent and how many people see them before early voting begins.

It's increasingly looking like a real race is developing in Senate 1. We'll have to see if voters there value incumbency and plum committee assignments, or if they prefer someone who hews closer to their ideology.

Squeezed at the Middle? Or No Mo' Status Quo?

We've been talking for a while now about the increasingly complicated landscape of Carson City. Brian Sandoval may have shaken up that landscape with his embrace of the 2009/2011 "sunset tax" deal, but it's also led to some unintended consequences. Everyone's favorite "Angle-philes" emerged from their "hobbit cave" "undisclosed location" to hurl unhinged screeds at Brian Sandoval and Michael Roberson. But perhaps more importantly, Chuck Muth is now unleashing his harpies anger at "moderates" who dare to agree with their fellow Republican, Brian Sandoval, on maintaining the status quo.

So the primaries are coming at full force... Yet not all of them are coming from the right.

We've talked before about the precarious situation that John Lee has fallen into. Last weekend, Steve Sebelius talked with John Lee about his "moderate dilemma"... And his Republican (??!!) campaign manager.



And today, Pat Spearman appeared on News 3 Las Vegas' "The Agenda" to show that she's offering a progressive alternative.

(Start the video below at 12:00.)



Last year, Lee stood with Sandoval on the budget. But now, he's catching heat in his district over it. Lee is now championing community college reform and change in the state's funding formulae. However, Spearman flat out said that it wasn't enough.

So are we finally seeing an election cycle when it's not just the far right that complains about the status quo in Carson City?

I've been saying for some time that Brian Sandoval may have opened Pandora's Box by trying to stake "middle ground" to put away complaints from the right and from the left on the state budget. And the more I see this play out, the less I doubt my initial call. We'll just have to see what happens in June to see where this goes next.

SD 1: John Lee Gets a Primary Challenge. And I Honestly Didn't Know About It.

Honestly, I did NOT know this was coming. When I was at Stonewall on Wednesday to listen to John Lee discuss his experience in the Legislature and answer questions about his record, I had no clue that Southern Nevada Stonewall's new Vice-chair was preparing to challenge him in the Democratic Primary in the new SD 1.

And now, it looks like Senate Democrats are in for a real Battle Royale. On one side, the Senate Caucus will have to decide how to defend John Lee in the primary. He is the incumbent, after all, and the caucus typically favors incumbents first.

But on the other hand, a number of progressive activists will probably be jumping behind Pat Spearman. Considering his past votes on matters of LGBTQ equality, the environment, education, and more, the grassroots left hasn't ever had a very good relationship with Lee. Tensions have been rising in the last few legislative sessions, so perhaps this was bound to happen at some point.

I'm sure there will be talk of how this affects the Senate Caucus. The fact of the matter is that this is how the ("small d") democratic process works. Primaries happen. And if Pat Spearman didn't do this, someone else might have announced.

Still, I just hope folks on both sides of this emerging divide remember to look at the bigger picture. Regardless of what happens in this primary, there's a big election coming in November. And not only is partisan control at stake, but so are the environment, workers' rights, education, LGBTQ equality, tax reform, and so much more.

I honestly didn't even know about this until Jon Ralston tweeted it. And I had no clue on Wednesday that this was going to happen. I'm confident that Stonewall will be fair in its endorsement process, as no endorsements have even been issued yet. I just hope that the larger progressive activist base will really think this through and make sure that whatever happens in this primary doesn't harm larger efforts to make a positive impact on the Legislature in this fall's election.

John Lee on the Nevada Legislature

You know, John Lee didn't just go to Stonewall last night to get grilled on LGBTQ equality matters. He also wanted to speak about something that's very near and dear to him, which happens to be the Legislature that he serves on.

He began by going in depth on the legislative process. Honestly, it felt awkward at first to hear a lecture on the legislative process from the guy at the center of the Lake Tahoe controversy, the SB 231 "Shoot 'em up on Campus" controversy, and repeated conflict with his fellow legislators. But as he kept talking, I kept listening... And I noticed something.



He really seems to be into his job. And he seems to relish his role as "The Lone Ranger" when it comes to ruffling feathers on both sides of the aisle. He's resisted efforts by Republicans to turn control of the Senate back to them (by joining their caucus), but he's also repeatedly caused headaches for Democratic leaders by proposing high-profile bills hated by progressives (as noted above), opposing key bills on their agenda (like SB 283 & AB 211), and making the budget process much more grueling last year by initially joining the bulk of Republican legislators in opposing a tax deal. He definitely has a history of "Going Rogue", and it doesn't sound like he intends to stop that any time soon.

So will he aim higher? There have been rumors of him seeking a leadership post himself next session (since he definitely now has the seniority to qualify), but I doubt that will happen. However as Chair of the Government Affairs Committee, he will probably have plenty of influence on local affairs for quite some time in the near future. In fact, sounded like John Lee relishes his role in determining what happens in Clark County and what Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas can expect from the state.

Lee also discussed his work on addressing funding inequities in Nevada higher education. Yes, believe it or not, he went there. He said point blank that UNR, Great Basin College, and the northern community colleges receive more funding per pupil than UNLV, NSC, and the CSNs. We'll have to see how far he goes there. Funny enough, many progressives down south may actually appreciate Lee's work on this issue. But with Debbie Smith likely to join him in Senate chambers next year, will she and other Northern Nevada Senators (from both parties) be willing to reexamine the funding formulae that the late Bill Raggio championed as a way to shield Northern Nevada from devastating budget cuts (that Southern Nevada ultimately had to shoulder)?

Whatever the case, it seems like John Lee is ready to keep going his own way, doing his own thing, and frustrating leaders on both sides of the aisle now that he's running for reelection to SD 1 one more time. I guess it's now part of the fun of working with Nevada's Legislature.

John Lee Speaks... To Stonewall (And Gets a Surprising Response!)

We were all waiting for this. This was the big night. For the first time ever, John Lee appeared at a Nevada Stonewall Democratic function.





Yes, I can wait a moment while you try to put your head back together after it exploded.

OK, are you ready now?

So John Lee spoke at length on Nevada's legislative process, and of the state of our economy today (which I'll get to in a future story). But this morning, I want to give Lee a chance to explain for himself his past opposition to SB 283 and AB 211.



Honestly, I was surprised. He neither apologized for his votes nor tried to really rationalize them. He basically just said that they are what they are and he is what he is.





John Lee said flat out that he believes marriage should be restricted to straight couples, but I just asked him about SB 283, which is not even marriage. It just affords some basic rights, benefits, and responsibilities to Nevada families that are easily given to everyone else. I understand John Lee is "pro-family", so why not at least allow these families to have the same rights that he and his wife gave?



An actual constituent of John Lee then asked him about his vote last session against AB 211, the transgender inclusive workplace non-discrimination bill. Lee had said earlier that no one from Stonewall even bothered to talk to him, but she corrected him and stated she did schedule meetings with him in 2009 regarding SB 283, and in 2011 regarding AB 211. Now I realize that it was a mistake for many progressives to totally shut down lines of communication with Lee, however not everyone was doing that. And despite hearing from constituents and activists who did schedule meetings with him, Lee still voted against AB 211. Did he need to see this?



Or does he need to hear from more Nevadans who have experienced workplace discrimination first hand? How hard is it to understand that it's wrong to fire someone from a job just because of one's identified gender?

Well, at least John Lee came to Stonewall last night to hear our grievances. I'll give him credit for that. (No really, I will!) And hopefully now with lines of communication between Lee and local progressives, he'll take some time to reconsider his take on matters of LGBTQ equality.



Interestingly enough, another candidate stood up later in the meeting and briefly discussed his own first hand experience.



Steve Parke is running for Assembly District 21 in Henderson and Silverado Ranch. (Disclaimer: He's also my neighbor.) And like John Lee, Steve Parke is also "pro-family" (he has a wife and two kids) and LDS. And he explained so well both the legal and moral case for marriage equality. In just his one minute of speaking, he blew away the audience... And hopefully, helped Lee start on that path of reconsidering his take on matters of LGBTQ equality.

Between Lee coming to Stonewall and the introduction of new Legislature candidates there last night, my hope for next session is being renewed.