Following primaries as a Libertarian Party voter is always a strange and disjointed experience. According to state law, third parties have to choose their candidates for the general election before the end of candidate filing in March; how that’s done, however, is left entirely to the third parties, who usually run conventions paid for with membership dues and donations before the filing deadline. Consequently, I already helped choose who will represent me and my Party in the general election three months ago.

Interestingly, if Doug Goodman’s Greater Choice - Greater Voice Initiative passes - an initiative I’m personally strongly in favor of - this is how every political party in Nevada will choose their candidates and we won’t have taxpayer-funded primary elections at all anymore. Considering how over 27 percent of Nevada’s voters don’t belong to either taxpayer-subsidized political party, and considering how the share of voters belonging to either of those parties has been steadily declining, that sounds like a long overdue step in the right direction to me. Regardless of how things ought to be, though, I must live in the world as it is, and in this world, the primaries came, I voted early despite the remonstrations of both my fellow Northern Nevadan columnist and our fearlessly opinionated Editor (albeit only for nonpartisan offices because of my third party voter registration), and then followed the results on IndyTV as every good, responsible Nevadan voter should.

So, how do I think the primaries turned out? Glad you asked.

The Republican primary for governor was utterly underwhelming, and I wasn’t surprised. If I had to choose between Adam Laxalt and Dan Schwartz, I’d personally pick Dan Schwartz - he’s far less shy about answering questions to the media, for good or ill, and I liked his stance on Education Savings Accounts - but I saw his campaign up close and personally enough times to know that it didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Laughlin in August of succeeding.

For starters, Dan isn’t the most natural public speaker in the free world. Secondly, his campaign had some severe personnel issues. I remember when Denise Mraz, his Clark County campaign chair for a time, showed up to a Libertarian Party event and, when asked what her candidate’s position on education was, proceeded to rant about fluoridated water and chemtrails. Naturally, we reached out to Schwartz directly to confirm whether this was official campaign positioning (it was not - she was removed from her position within the campaign shortly afterward), but I still found it telling.

The Democratic primary for governor, on the other hand, was a bit more interesting. One drum I’ve been banging on for nearly a decade now to anyone who will listen is that Washoe County is turning “bluer” than Clark County - Northern Nevada Democrats are more numerous than they used to be and more like Bay Area Democrats than the union workers in Southern Nevada. They’re consequently more likely to support progressive policies and candidates than their compatriots down south. It’s no accident that Sprinklecare came from Sparks’ assemblyman, nor is it an accident that Bernie Sanders won Washoe County, nor is it an accident that Chris Giunchigliani won Washoe County. This matters since, back in the days of Bill Raggio and politically-minded Laxalts that actually lived and worked in Nevada before running for office, Washoe County used to be the GOP’s bulwark against Democratic Party dominance, and that simply hasn’t been true for three presidential cycles now.

If Steve Sisolak wins the general election despite burning his pile of cash in the primary, Washoe County will be why.

An additional data point for my thesis regarding Washoe County: Sarah Peters handily won her primary for Assembly, and thus will serve her district next year since nobody else is running in the general. For the record, I’ve met Sarah and she is incredibly nice and knowledgeable - downtown Reno will be well represented by her - but she was as progressive as that race got (she openly supports a higher minimum wage, opposes vouchers, supports single-payer health care, is vocally active in the LGBTQIA+ community and supports gun control) and was rewarded for it.

Yet another data point for my thesis regarding Washoe County: Hillary Schieve absolutely dominated her primary for Reno Mayor. Now, a disclaimer is in order here - I volunteered for Eddie Lorton’s campaign in 2014, and he was a donor for my campaign for state Senate in 2016 because of our mutual appreciation for fiscal and regulatory discipline, although we diverge on a number of issues, such as immigration and support for President Trump.

Also, while I’m throwing disclaimers around, I’ll also note that Schieve is registered as a nonpartisan voter, though she’s been routinely attending Democratic events for years. However, I was still mildly surprised to see Lorton receive less than 20 percent of the vote since I knew he had been actively currying favor among conservative interest groups in the area. Then again, conservatives didn’t (or couldn’t) do much to keep Schieve out of the mayor’s office in 2014, either, and that was during the red wave. Consequently, I expect Schieve’s results to stick in the general election.

Speaking of lopsided mayoral primaries, here’s a fun bit of trivia - unlike Reno, if a candidate in Sparks gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, he or she automatically wins. This is new - until SB 202 passed in 2017, the top two candidates in the primary automatically progressed to the general, no matter how far apart they were. This year, that would have meant Ron Smith would have faced Wendy Stolyarov, legislative director for the Libertarian Party of Nevada and the absolutely lovely and charming girlfriend of yours truly. Unfortunately for us, Ron Smith received more than 50 percent of the vote (61.04 percent - less than Hillary Schieve’s 62.94 percent), and will thus be Sparks’ next mayor. Speaking personally, that’s fine; Ron Smith is a good guy, he’s been active in Sparks City Council for years, and I think he’ll represent the citizens of Sparks competently.

Going back to statewide races for a moment, it was not a good primary for the purveyors of lightly treated Las Vegas tap water with dubious health effects. I’m sure the citizens of Clark County are relieved that Brett and Aimee Jones can go back to focusing on their core competency of selling water that, to quote from their website, “[c]hannels the usher in water and cellular nutrients for increased cellular hydration.” I have been informed from reliable sources that their attention to public policy was nearly as exacting as their attention to grammar and intelligibility in their product marketing. They were rewarded accordingly.

Speaking of Las Vegas, every Nevada marijuana user’s favorite state senator narrowly squeaked through his primary. I don’t personally touch the stuff - my drugs of choice are gin and coffee, though not at the same time - but I’m glad to see Tick Segerblom has an opportunity to represent his constituents in the Clark County Commission. That said, Tick, if you’re reading this - and you might be - I want you to know that you have my support, but you really need to watch more “Simpsons” and read up on monorails before you throw tax money at them. Seriously, like most light rail projects, they’re a waste of money. Total ridership in Phoenix has declined ever since they put money into light rail, and that’s not a coincidence - light rail is expensive, inflexible and cannibalizes cheaper and more flexible bus routes.

Speaking of Clark County commissioner candidates, this is your public service announcement that Chemtrail Cindy made it through her primary. This is also your public service announcement that, if you prefer your support for lower taxes and limited government without the General Jack D. Ripper quotes, that option is available.

Speaking of past and present Libertarian Party candidates, Nye County came out strong for Dennis Hof in the Republican primary for Assembly District 36 - strong enough, in fact, to overcome deficits in every other county in his district. Speaking as someone who went to high school in Pahrump, it’s probably the only place in Nevada where Hof could be elected - and I don’t mean that as an insult. He briefly flirted with running for state Senate in west Reno as a Libertarian; considering Reno’s attitudes towards strip clubs these days, that would not have gone well for him.

Pahrump, on the other hand, is proudly anti-establishment - this is the same town that not only refused to incorporate as a city, it even dissolved its town board - and is arguably the most live and let live place in the entire state. If Dennis Hof can get elected anywhere, that’s the place. A fair amount of Assembly District 36 isn’t in Pahrump, however - if Lesia Romanov has a path to victory, and that’s a big if, it’ll be by convincing exurban Clark County voters that they’re better represented by her than by “The Trump of Pahrump.” Personally, I strongly suspect Dennis will be making the 2019 legislative session very entertaining, whether the rest of Nevada likes it or not.

I just noticed that I haven’t talked about the federal races - like most Nevadans, I think I’m already developing a reflexive tic as I consider both the options and the rolling barrage of attack ads as both sides turn the electorate into No Man’s Land before November. Of course, voting Libertarian means never having to say I’m sorry - and I will, for Senate and governor, and would for Congress if we were running anyone in CD 2 (I’m going to go ahead and call it here - the former director of the USDA for the Obama administration is not going to win - enjoy your re-election, Congressman Amodei).

My friends down south are a bit luckier - depending on where they live, they have Robert Van Strawder (who’s an incredible speaker to listen to), Steve Brown (who’s been a recurring presence at Clark County School District meetings) or Gregg Luckner (an all around nice guy) to vote for. However, in the interest of fairness, I’ll admit that most Nevadans are probably trying to decide between Dean Heller and Jacky Rosen, or Danny Tarkanian and Susie Lee, or Cresent Hardy and Steve Horsford, and all I have to ask is why? Why would you do that to yourselves? Why?

No matter. Let’s look at the options our taxpayer-funded primaries have produced.

Say what you will about Dean Heller, but he wins elections. Say what you will about Jacky Rosen - and nobody north of Nellis has - but she’s not a Republican. Will not being a Republican be enough in the era of Trump? It might be, unless Heller is able to describe Rosen to Northern Nevada voters before Rosen does.

As for Danny Tarkanian, say what you will about his father, but at least he won the big one (which is something Danny never, ever will). I’d say that Republican primary voters will eventually catch on, but nearly 20 percent of them thought replacing Amodei with Sharron Angle was a good idea this year, so I’m not going to put money on it.

As for Hardy and Horsford, did Ruben Kihuen poison the Democratic well deeply enough for Cresent Hardy to repeat his 2014 performance against his 2014 opponent? If not, I’m sure Republicans will complain to me that it’s all Gregg Luckner’s fault for “stealing” votes from their candidate, never mind the 30,000 registered-voter deficit the GOP is operating under in that district. Last but not least, Reuben D’Silva is an absolute gem that needs to stop tilting at windmills against Dina Titus over and over again.

With that, I can’t have thoughts about every race in Nevada - that’s Ralston’s job - and there’s also a ballot full of initiatives to look over. Also, unlike the primaries, I get to vote in all of the races in November, which means I have to decide who to support for attorney general, state controller, state treasurer, Information Technology Advisory Board, State Records Committee, Verdi TV District, Community Advisory Board, Urban Forestry Commission, Airport Noise Advisory Panel, Downtown Police Special Assessment District Advisory Committee, several Supreme Court seats, school board, University Regent, county sheriff, district attorney and several other positions that, upon further reflection, probably shouldn’t be chosen directly by the voters. It’s all right, though - I’m sure my years of experience in Information Technology will serve me well when it comes time for me to evaluate who the best candidate will be for… checks previous elections… District Court Judge, District 2, Department 11 Family Division.

Well, my years of experience in Information Technology will serve me well when it comes time for me to use a search engine, at least. Oh well - this is the world as it is. Might as well make the most of it.

Disclosure: Tick Segerblom, Susie Lee, Steve Sisolak and Chris Giunchigliani have donated to The Nevada Independent. You can see a full list of donors here.

David Colborne has been active in the Libertarian Party for two decades. During that time, he has blogged intermittently on his personal blog, as well as the Libertarian Party of Nevada blog, and ran for office twice as a Libertarian candidate. He serves on the Executive Committee for both his state and county Libertarian Party chapters. He is the father of two sons and an IT professional. You can follow him on Twitter @ElectDavidC or email him at [email protected]