State Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro is one of three women being targeted by Nevada Republicans.

Nevada Republicans are still forging ahead with their sore-loser plans to force recall elections in a desperate attempt to win back the state Senate majority they lost last fall, but Democrats are now mounting an effort to block this attempt to usurp the electoral process. The GOP, however, is well-funded and well-organized, and stopping this hijacking of democracy before it can get underway will not be easy.

But first, a little background: Silver State Republicans were, understandably, less than thrilled about losing what had been a slim 11-10 majority to the Democrats in the 2016 elections. The loss of Senate control coincided with a dramatic power shift toward Democrats in the state Assembly, where Republicans went from a 24-17 majority (plus one Libertarian) to a 15-27 minority overnight last fall. Then one senator, Patricia Farley, added insult to the GOP’s new minority-status injury by leaving the Republican caucus a few days after the election, declaring herself an independent and caucusing with Democrats, giving them an effective 12-9 majority in the Senate. Only GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval stands between Republicans and political irrelevance.

And prospects for a Senate comeback for the Nevada GOP don’t look very rosy going into 2018.

Next fall, the half of the Senate that wasn’t on the ballot last fall is up for election. Unfortunately for the GOP, however, the 10 Senate seats going before voters next year include only three districts currently held by Democrats, all of whom survived the rather difficult 2014 cycle with strong performances. The most viable pickup “opportunity” for Republicans is to replace Farley (the party-switcher) in a seat where Hillary Clinton edged Donald Trump 48-47.

But that only matters if Republicans can somehow scrounge up another seat elsewhere and successfully play defense in every single district they currently hold. And good luck with that: One GOP incumbent on the ballot next fall currently occupies a seat Clinton carried easily (52-43), giving Democrats an opportunity to further expand their majority.

Faced with an almost impossibly tough election cycle, Republicans are resorting to a nefarious tactic to oust three Democratic women senators before they have to go before the full electorate in 2018. Nevada Republicans are trying to trigger do-overs in two in seats they lost last fall and in one competitive district they worry they can’t win in a regular election.

So Republicans reasonably expect to be stuck in the legislative minority through the next election cycle. But forcing new elections just to undo the results of the most recent election just because you don’t like them is a lousy way to do democracy, and it demonstrates why Republicans deserve their minority status.