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August 14th , 2024 Len’s Political Note #663 Nonpartisan Greg Kidd Nevada 02
2024 General Election
Greg Kidd
Nonpartisan is Nevada’s term for Independent. Nevada had its primary on June 11. Greg Kidd did not run in the Republican primary, even though he is a registered Republican. Nor did he run in the Democratic primary. In fact, there was no Democratic primary for Nevada 02. No Democrat ran and the party has not endorsed a candidate.
Here is a picture of the 2022 Congressional election results in Nevada:
District 1: Democrat wins 51.6 to 46
District 3: Democrat wins 52 to 48
District 4: Democrat wins 52.4 to 47.6
District 2: Republican wins 59.7 to 37.8
It is terrific that a Nonpartisan/independent candidate stepped in to run for Congress in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional district when there was no Democratic candidate. Greg Kidd is a candidate you can support. You could even generate some enthusiasm for that support. In a presidential year, in a year when Nevada has a close US Senate race and a Democratic incumbent, in a year when the people of Nevada will vote on a constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion; surprising things could happen in the election in Nevada 02. One surprising thing happened. Senator Jacky Rosen and candidate for reelection in 2024 has endorsed Greg Kidd.
There are Democrats in Nevada 02. Republicans are a plurality, but not a majority. Republicans are about 38% of the voters while Democrats are 25%. Thirty percent are nonpartisans. Could you imagine a circumstance where Gregg Kidd received 90% of the Democratic vote and 90% of the nonpartisan vote? That would get him more than 50% of the vote without getting any Republicans or third-party voters.
What does Greg Kidd have to offer to Democrats and others? He is pro-choice and supports the vote to make the right to abortion part of Nevada’s constitution. He says the 2020 election was fair and legitimate and the results were accurate. Trump lost. He suggests that Nevada can capitalize on its ability to generate solar energy and can revitalize its mining. He would create a Nevada fund to pay out revenues from mining (perhaps resembling Alaska’s annual payments to its residents). He would work to achieve a bipartisan agreement on immigration that could include a digital ID.
Greg Kidd is dismissive of the Republican incumbent Mark Amodei. He condemns Amodei’s opposition to the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Greg Kidd argues these were job producing acts of legislation which were also crucial for moving the country forward in technology and in dealing with climate change. He tells his prospective constituents that Mark Amodei has opposed proposals that were good for Nevada and that he, Greg Kidd, would do better.
Greg Kidd is certainly doing something. During the course of the campaign, he has raised $1.5 million to Amodei’s $800,000. Most of Greg Kidd’s campaign money appears to be his own. As the two of them come to the home stretch, Greg Kidd has $400,00 to spend plus whatever he may add. Mark Amodei has $500,000, There are no polls available, but this race looks like it could be close.
Greg Kidd has done something in his life. He is, in fact, eager to tell you about it. There is more in his website about his life than his political beliefs. He went to Brown, studied computers at Stanford, got an MBA from Yale and an MPA in public policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard. Initially, he worked in consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton, then took Dispatch Management Services Corp public with $250 million in annual revenue. He worked for the Fed, worked for Ripple Labs, then co-founded Apto Payments – an innovative credit card company. Principally, he describes himself as the Chief Executive Officer of Hard Yaka Ventures. I imagine that describing it as an investment firm would be seen as an insult or a demonstration of my ignorance about finance.
If Mark Amodei is ignoring Greg Kidd, that is worse than an insult. He is putting himself in danger. Increase that danger a little. I don’t mean to say that Greg Kidd needs your money. In fact, he is not asking for it. He is asking that you join his campaign. Do that. JOIN.
ANOTHER NEVADA CONGRESSIONAL RACE
Dina Titus has represented Nevada 01 for a long time, long enough so that she was never really part of Harry Reid’s team. An academic who grew up the south, somehow skipped graduating from high school., came to Nevada to teach at university, and wrote about the storage of nuclear waste in Nevada, she is both quirky and interesting. Until 2022, she had a district that was heavily Democratic and was profanely critical of the redistricting that created the possibility of a much closer race.
Dina Titus has two candidates to defeat. Mark Roberson is a retired Colonel and retired financial planner who was situated in Henderson. His website is a red, white, and blue as any I’ve seen. He announces “Secure the Border NOW! Americans Must Come First NOW!. He won the Republican primary raising only $150,000, defeating a candidate who raised and spent $1.8 million. He has $100,000 left for the balance of the campaign and cannot be taken for granted. Ron Quince is a Nonpartisan/independent candidate. He is a graduate of the on-line school the University of Phoenix and describes himself as a Tax Specialist and an Entrepreneur. At age 45, he has created something of a financial empire. He joins groups eclectically. Born in the Philippines, he is a member of the Asian Chamber of Commers, the Jewish Republican Coalition, and Republican National Committee large donor groups. He and Dina Titus have each raised $1.5 million for this campaign and enter the home stretch with almost all of ther money available for the last three months. Dina Titus may be fortunate to have two serious opponents. Help her win this election. DONATE.
Other Congressional Races in the Southwest
Arizona 01. Amish Shah was originally from Chicago, the child of South Asian immigrants. He went to Northwestern and then Northwestern medical school. He earned a Master’s in public health and had training in trauma medicine in New York City. He moved to Arizona to do additional work in. sports medicine and now works at the Mayo Clinic, as expert in urgent care. He explains that his experience in emergency room care has taught him about the needs of America’s neediest. He has a vision of ways of getting closer to universal health care access if he can defeat David Schweikart, an incumbent whose ethics problems in 2020 and 2022 have made h im vulnerable. Help Amish Shah finally flip this seat. DONATE
Arizona 06. Environment expert and former state representative and state senator Kirsten Engel has nearly settled in at the University of Arizona, but would have a national impact in dealing with the climate crisis if she could get elected to Congress. She came close against now incumbent Juan Ciscomani who had been an aide to the Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, which a special responsibility for border issues. She has attended diligently to what is required for a Congressional campaign. On July 10, she had $3.2 million available for her campaign, slightly outpacing the incumbent Ciscomani, who had $2.7 million. Help Kirsten Engel flip thius seat. DONATE.
New Mexico 02 Gabe Vasquez was born in Texas, raised in Mexico, and graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of New Mexico. He was a journalist for a while, but found his two vocations later. He was a field director for Senator Martin Heinrich. More importantly, he became Deputy Director of the New Mexico chapter of the Wilderness Society. His mission is to take care of the earth. He made a dent in that objective as a City Councilor. He has begun his efforts in Congress. He is on the House Agriculture Committee, serving on three subcommittees: Conservation, research, and biotechnology; Forestry; and Livestock, dairy, and poultry. He can keep on doing this if he can defeat Realtor and Native American Yvette Herrell, who he defeated in 2022. He has prepared himself for the election and has $2.7 million available for the home stretch. She has half the amount — $1.4 million. Help Gabe Vasquez keep this seat Democratic. DONATE.
Texas 15. Michelle Vallejo returned home after graduating from Columbia to help her mom manage her flea market business and to advocate for her community. She helped found a chapter of New Leaders Council STX Frontera and an annual conference in San Antonio to support businesswomen and entrepreneurs – Hustle & Socialize. She ran for Congress in 2022, but got no national support. She lost to realtor and now incumbent Monica De La Cruz. Michelle Vallejo has received more support this election, but her $700,000 for the home stretch is only a third of the incumbent’s $2.1 million. Help Michelle Vallejo make a true run at the incumbent. DONATE.
SENATE – Four races in this region are crucial for control of the US Senate
Nevada incumbent Jacky Rosen
Jacky Rosen moved to Henderson, Nevada from Chicago, following her parents who retired there. She got her BA from the University of Minnesota and got a job at Summa Corporation. She moonlighted as a waitress and learned about technology on the job and at the local community college. She got job working in technology for Southwest then opened up her own consulting firm. She married Larry Rosen and they joined the Ner Tamid synagogue in Henderson. This became her community. For twenty years, off and on, she served as the synagogue’s president. Then Harry Reid persuaded her to run for Congress. She won and Harry Reid worked his magic again. He persuaded her to run for the US Senate.
As synagogue president, in the House, and in the Senate, Jacky Rosen was a strikingly good listener and a fount of common sense on politics and on how to manage a family while being in politics. She is not particularly ideological but has a consistent vision. She promises to grow Nevada’s economy for the future. She emphasizes travel and tourism, clean energy, and STEM education. She would make health care more accessible and affordable, fight for reproductive rights, address Nevada’s doctor shortage, address political corruption in Washington, support veterans and members of the armed forces, and fix the current broken immigration system.
Her opponent is Sam Brown, a war veteran whose injuries from burns are visible to anyone who sees him. He tried politics in Texas before moving to Nevada. He has attracted at least one multi-millionaire Nevada donor. He promises to fix the problem at the border – pointing at the dangers of crime and drugs, to fix education problem through school choice, to fix access to public land by having the federal government turn land over to the state. Brown’s most visible issue is his opposition to abortion, buttressed by his wife who speaks about the abortion she had and regrets. Recent polls show Jacky Rosen leading in this race by 3, 4, and 5 points. As of June 30, she had a substantial lead in the financial race: $9.7 million to $3.1 million. Every dollar helps, though. Help Jacky Rosen. DONATE
Arizona.
Congressman Ruben Gallego is running to keep this Senate seat Democratic
Ruben Gallego grew up poor in Chicago. He was raised by his mother southwest of downtown Chicago. He retained a connection with his father until his dad lost his job and drifted into dealing drugs. Ruben Gallegoplanned to get into Harvard. He borrowed SAT prep books from the school library. He contacted Harvard students with Latino names to ask for help in applying for admission and for information about financial aid.
Ruben Gallego worked his way through Harvard, taking whatever menial jobs student aid had needy students take on. Out of school, Ruben Gallego and his girlfriend, who was from New Mexico, moved to Phoenix. He joined the marines and was deployed to Iraq. He returned to the United States committed to veterans who were angry about being sent to war unprotected by sufficient armor. Ruben Gallego and his girlfriend each had political ambitions, ambitions which have been realized. She is now mayor of Phoenix. He is a relatively progressive Member of Congress and is now running for the US Senate. They divorced in 2016. Amicably, it appears.
Ruben Gallego’s opponent for the US Senate is Kari Lake. She is a former television announcer and the camera loves her. She is a follower of Donald Trump. Not only does she believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, she believes her 2022 run for Governor of Arizona was stolen from her.
Recent polls show Ruben Gallego leading by 4, 6, and 7 points. He has a solid lead in the money race. On July 10, he had $8.2 million; she had $2.1 million. Help Ruben Gallego stay far ahead. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #544
New Mexico
Incumbent Democrat Martin Heinrich has a multi-millionaire hedge fund opponent who is also the daughter of a former US Senator from New Mexico. Nella Dominici has not lived in New Mexico for years, but, nevertheless, has a familiar name.
Martin Heinrich is the grandson of a German immigrant who farmed and the son of a man who worked in a union job managing gas and electric service. Martin Heinrich found New Mexico after he completed his engineering degree at the University of Missouri. He worked for the National Wildlife Service in what was anything but a desk job. He spent a year tracking wolves to see how many were left after generations of being hunted so the Service could decide whether or not to return wolves to the environment.
Martin Heinrich is probably the foremost conservationist in the US Senate. He will need to make that stand up to one of the winners of the hedge fund lottery. The only recent poll shows him leading by 6 points. On June 30, Martin Heinrich had a pretty good financial lead: $4.8 million to $2.1 million. The money Dominici needs to make up the difference is a little more than pocket change for her. Help Matin Heinrich finish well. DONATE.
And here is a chance to flip a Senate seat from Republican to Democratic
Texas
Congressman Colin Allred can flip this seat. He played his college football at Baylor in Waco, Texas. He played in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans. When an injury stopped him, he went to law school at the University of California, Berkeley.
Colin Allred had options when he finished law school as did his wife who got her law degree from the same school. He spent some time in Washington working in the General Counsel’s office of the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs whose Secretary, at the time, was Texan Julian Castro. He practiced law for the Texas firm Perkins Cole, and then ran for Congress. He has been a moderate Democrat supporting background checks for purchasing guns and red flag laws to allow removing guns from dangerous people. He has urged using technology to secure the border. And during the pandemic he urged voluntary vaccination rather than mandates. His website claims three successes – lowering prescription drug prices, establishing a new VA health center, and supporting a trade deal that “keeps jobs in Texas.”
He is running against Ted Cruz who is among the most extreme Republicans and among the most disliked. The most recent polls not funded by Republicans, show Cruz leading by 8 points and 3 points. The money race is close. On June 30, Colin Allred had $10,5 million to Cruz’s $12.7 million. Help Colin Allred stay in this race. DONATE.
WE ALSO HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO WIN
Donate to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
As we look toward November, 2024, Help sustain the enthusiasm for the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign. They are a phenomenon and have raised a lot of money. They will need still more resources to win. Every donation, large or small, makes a difference. Larger donations mean more money for the campaign. The media also counts the number of small donations as a measure of enthusiasm for the candidate. Make a small donation if you cannot afford a large one. DONATE TO KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ
