2020 general election

Voter Guide:

I decided I don’t really have it in me to do another full blown voter guide like I put together for the primary, but I compiled all the sources I used to fill out my ballot. if you want to see my opinion on the candidates/races that were on my ballot in the primary as well as the sources I used in the spring I left that below.

Helpful resources:

• vote save america

• Actionn New Normal Voter Guide

• RJG Voter Guide for District Court Judge - Department 10

• Washoe County Bar Association Judicial debate

• BALLOTPEDIA

• RGJ Voter Guide for District Court Judge Department 13

• remember google is your friend.

I’m not an expert this is just my fairly well researched opinion

I found it extremely hard to find information about the candidates in this election that they didn’t write themselves and it literally took me an entire day to find the resources I felt I needed to make informed decisions for the 10 races on my ballot, this included asking a few people whose opinions I trust on these issues for help. edit: I’m still finding new resources and information the next day so this is by no means the end all be all, it’s just a starting point to help get you going in the right direction.

Voting can already be really intimidating and the lack of information, resources and the time it takes to find it only makes it that much harder. Voting in every election is so important, especially now and especially local. It may not always feel like it, but it is what leads to the most effective change. You have to start small and local to effect big widespread change!

Thank you to a trusted friend and my Teacher Friend Julianna Daines for their input and my facebook friend Jerry Snyder who posts his Tall Arrogant Bastard’s Voting Guide every election. I trust all of these opinions and find them very helpful and hope you do too.

Again this is just my opinion so please take what I have to say into consideration and then check out these Helpful resources:

• people first voter guide - edit 6/4: I just found this! KWNK has an interview with Aria From Actionn. LISten to it!

• This is reno: Election Guide

• Washoe Dems Primary

• The Nevada Independent

• RGJ also has some semi helpful Voter Guides, but I kept hitting a paywall which I found frustrating

  (I feel like voter guides and should be free to help make voting accessible, but that’s another issue.)

• vote save america I’ve been told this is a good source, however they don’t have anything up for the primary, but be sure to check it in November.

• list of all the Democrats candidates running - while this shouldn’t be the only reason to vote for someone, it’s important to know if their party alignment aligns with yours.

• list of all the Republican candidates running

• Zoom meeting put on by the Washoe Dems with all the Judicial Candidates. Watch this. Here’s one for the congressional District 2 candidates

• Ballotpedia I forgot I had used this resource a couple times until someone commented about it. I personally didn’t find it completely helpful, which could have been just for the races I looked at, but worth a try.

• Also remember to just google them to see what comes up. This can feel daunting so I recommend trying to narrow down the candidates a little first.

I really like Patricia Ackerman for Congress. She’s progressive and has solid sounding ideas. I suggest reading her platform on her website. My personal favorite was the way she talked about healthcare. She’s for a public option, but don’t let that stop you from voting for her. This is what she says on her website that really got me: “For those who have a healthcare plan through their employer or union and are happy with it, we should respect the freedom to choose. When we develop a better way through Medicare for All, it will become the choice. I believe a universal healthcare system is ultimately the way to go. I believe when we offer Americans the plan, they will choose it, it will grow, become better funded, costs will go down even further and ultimately, we will succeed in a Universal healthcare system for All.” I like the idea of the Public option being just a stepping stone to get us to Medicare for All. It seems smart and attainable.

I also checked out her twitter and I feel like she had a good response to the protests over the weekend and shared a few black voices today (6/2 #blackouttuesday). She also retweeted a NV Dems tweet blatantly stating that they “support the movements and protests to protect black lives, across the country, but especially here in Nevada.” The tweet included a link to donate to the Vegas Freedom Fund.

I’m going to be honest I didn’t look too much into the other candidates past reading the RGJ Voter Guide. Ackerman was the first candidate that I started really digging into and found her policy stances align with mine, plus she’s a woman which we need more of in government. I’m not voting for her just because she’s a woman, but because I agree with her, although it’s a major plus.

I like Kristina Pickering for seat B. She’s currently the incumbent and seems highly qualified for the job and looks like she’s doing a good job. She was actually the judge presiding over the Steese case (see below) that took a second look and led to his commutation which then led her extern, Herndon’s daughter, to help pass the bill that compensates the wrongfully convicted. Read this to learn more. Again, she’s Facebook friend Jerry Snyder’s recommendation (he’s a lawyer so I especially trust his opinions on the judicial races).

Edit: This morning 6/3 I was given more information from my friend Lea Moser, who is running for Assembly in District 30, which made me take a second look at this race. Here is an article about a Nevada Supreme Court case on cash bail stating Pickering was the lone no vote against setting limits. Something to investigate further. I was also given the links to the Zoom meeting mentioned above. It’s about an hour long, but watch it. Esther C. Rodriquez is worth looking into further.

I went with Douglas Herndon for Seat D for the Supreme Court, Facebook friend Jerry Snyder recommended Douglas Herndon since he’s the only one with trial experience. I personally like the idea of a judge not only with actual trial experience (and according to the Nevada Independent guide he has a lot), but I like one that can learn and grow from his past mistakes.

Edit: After taking a second look and watching the zoom meeting I’m wondering if trial experience means everything. Fumo looks like he could be a good option and is worth looking into further.

I’m just going to copy and paste what he posted because I think it is well worded and thoughtful.

I went with Lance Clark White for Family Court Judge. Again, he was Jerry’s recommendation and I’m an acquaintance of his wife’s. But after checking out his website and hearing his story I definitely think he has the experience and insight to do a good job.

Since there was only one candidate here I didn’t put too much of my effort into looking into her. But she seems competent and I like that she’s on the board of Step 2. I recommend reading the This is Reno guide on her to see what you think for yourself.

This race has honestly been the hardest for me to come to a conclusion on and as of the time I’m writing this I still haven’t fully made up my mind. I find it hard to feel completely comfortable making a decision since I’m not exactly sure what the board of regents really does and if the people currently doing it are doing a good job,. While my partner and I were researching this race we started out torn between Vince Lombardi and Kevin Melcher because they seemed like the two candidates with the most experience. However when I reached out to a very trusted friend for her thoughts she endorsed Andrew Diss. S said he’s a progressive guy backed by the Washoe Dems. My partner and I had written him off because there was a lack of information on his website and what was there was repeated. But I decided to continue looking and after rereading the This is Reno guide I think I’m leaning towards Diss more. Since I’m not fully sure of the role of regent I wonder if experience is more important than a fresh prospective and a progressive outlook? If anyone has insight I’d love to hear it!

P.S. I didn’t even come close to bothering with John Mckendricks. The first line of his bio on his website is “John McKendricks has almost thirty–years of ministry experience; beginning with his service with Last Days Ministries while they were still located in Northridge CA.” Anytime someone wants to go into education and that is their opener it’s a hard pass for me. I strongly believe in the separation of church and state, especially when it comes to education. I feel that if your experience is based off your religion then your policy and voting most likely will be too.

Edit 6/3: Andrew Diss heard I had questions about the board of regents and this race and sent me an email explaining what the board of regents does and then talks a little about why he believes he’s qualified despite a lack of direct experience in the particular role. I found it very helpful so I’m copy and pasting it here in case you do too.

This one I had trouble find too much info outside of the This is Reno Voter guide. But that lead me to be between Marquez and Thigpen. I wasn’t totally sure since I couldn’t find any info outside of what they’ve written about themselves so I reached out to my friend who is a teacher to see what her thoughts were. She confirmed my thinking that I should go with Marquez.

Edit 6/3: I realized I should give further explanation to exactly what her thinking is that swayed me. Please keep in mind this is solely her opinion (shared with consent) based off her personal experience with the candidate and nothing more, but I found it compelling in conjunction with what I had already read about him. She said he is the parent of one of her students of two years so she knows him. Knows that he always supports her classroom and the school to the best of his ability. He’s down to earth, rational and very passionate. She knows he coaches baseball for the kids and that he cares about kids a lot which means a lot to her as a teacher. His wife is also a school counselor in the public schools. I believe I also read that in the This is Reno Voter guide, in which he said it gives him insight into the mental health of the students. Based on all of that he seems very invested. I’ve heard he is pretty moderate, but is that a bad thing for a school board? Again just one opinion, but I think it’s well thought through.

EDIT 6/4: Here’s a 2019 article about WCSD discussion of changing school times in which Marquez is quoted.

Here again I was having trouble deciding based off the information that I was finding. I was leaning towards Diane Nicolet since she seems to have the most experience, however I find it hard to get a well rounded idea of a candidate since there is so little information outside of what they’ve written themselves. So again I asked for my friends opinion as a teacher and she confirmed my thinking on Nicolet.

For this race I went with incumbent Jenny Brekhus. I believe it was the RGJ guide that mentioned she seems to butt heads with the rest of the council which I think means she’s asking the right questions and seems to votes in the best interest for our Ward. And according to a 2019 This is Reno article “She asks pointed questions, is a frequently lone nay vote – particularly against development projects – and has strained relations at city hall.” I felt that Britton Anne Griffith’s ties to a development firm and John “JD” Drakulich’s job as a realtor could lead to conflicting interests.

I knew I didn’t like Eddie Lorton from when I researched for the 2018 Mayor election so I saved myself some time and skipped him this time around. I couldn’t find much on on Michael Walker in the voter guides and he didn’t have a website so again I moved on. For me the bulk of the research in this race was between Joe Moskowitz and Devon Thomas Reese. While Moskowitz had some interesting points, he doesn’t have much experience and there were a lot of grammatical errors on his website and in what looked like copy and pasted answers on the This is Reno Voter Guide that were hard for me to ignore. From what I found it’s clear that Reese is the one to go with. He’s already held office and seems like he’s the most qualified for the job.

For this race I found the This is Reno guide helpful and I think I read one of the RGJ guides as well. Plus I checked out both of their websites.