How to Vote in Northern Nevada – November 2018

This is  a working document. I really want to know your thoughts in the comments below.

Nevada Ballot Questions

Question 1 – Trials Expands the rights of crime victims

YES – This seems like a good thing. If someone is a victim of a crime, it seems reasonable that they should be able to get information related to the case, get their stuff back and all the other things noted in the bill.

Question 2 – Taxes Exempts feminine hygiene products from sales tax

YES – Based on principles, the government wastes money so tax cuts are generally a good thing. Especially if these tax cuts go to women.

Question 3 – Energy Regulations on the energy market

YES – Based on principles, I don’t think it’s the government’s job to regulate electricity. The external costs are so I’m open to being swayed here. At the end of the day, I think it’s better to err on the side of freer markets, rather than more tightly regulated ones.

Question 4 – Taxes Sales tax exemption for medical equipment

YES – Our health care system is ludicrous compared to the other countries I’ve seen in the world. In my experience, Thailand, Australia, and Costa Rica all have better, cheaper health care than the United States. Why not start slashing those medical costs?

Question 5 – Elections Automatic voter registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles

NO – My experience with required elections in Australia taught me that it’s fine for people not to vote. Voting is an option in a free society, not a requirement.

Question 6 – Energy Requires 50 percent of energy to come from renewable resources by 2030

YES – We will one day need to have our power system based on renewable energy. Why wait? Humanity is running a bonkers experiment of putting carbon into the atmosphere as fast as possible. Whether or not you care about carbon emissions, it doesn’t matter there is no way we can have non-renewable energy forever because it’s non-renewable.

Nevada Candidates

United States Senate

Ranked in order of my top choice to my last choice:

Jacky Rosen – Democratic (website)

From her website, it appears that Jacky is a pro. She appears to be motivated to shift immigration, environmental policy. Also, I believe in an ineffective government so Democrats are good in the Senate for now as they will limit the power of the executive for the next 2-6 years.

Update: I received a call from Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood (https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/local/nevada) and they support Mrs. Rosen.

Dean Heller – Republican (website)

This guy appears to be a lifetime politician who worked as a stock trader for a short time. I like that he is from Carson City, the same place I was born, but I don’t see anything other than business as usual. As Republicans have a lot of power these days, I think it’s best to go with the Democrat for the time being.

Tim Hagan – Libertarian Party of Nevada (website)

I’m sympathetic to Libertarians, but I can’t find any information related to Tim’s stance on issues. He seems like a smart guy, but if you can’t build a website with your issues on it, are you ready to play an important role as a Senator?
 
 
Kamau A. Bakari – Independent American (website)
 
WOW! Check this guy out. This video is hilarious:
 
https://youtu.be/cpiUtIpyQTI
 
I want to hang out with Kamau the most, but I’m not sure what he stands for outside making fun, fake cowboy movies.
 
Aside from the fact that I like the attitude, Everything was done in 2014 and I don’t consider this a real run for political office. It’s a gesture.
 
Barry Michaels – No Political Party (website)
 
New Yorker who works in chiropractic “medicine”. The website his team put together still has templating information on it. If they can’t build a website, why should they represent Nevada in the Senate?
 

Reno Mayor

 
Eddie Lorton – I really don’t know much about the Reno Mayor position. My cursory look at their websites leads me to like Eddie Lorton more. I like the fiscal responsibility message and his focus on making Reno housing more affordable.
 
Hillary seems very cool. She seems like someone who would be fun to hang out with. But her website gives me the impression that she thinks the scope of the government is wider than I promote.
 
If you’ve got any feelings about this, please let me know in the comments. Because I travel all the time, I’m voting a week from now. I’d like to know more about this voting decision. Why do you think either of these characters good/bad for Reno?

Reno City Council Ward 2

 
I have no idea. Please help with comments below.

Reno City Council Ward 4

 
I have no idea. Please help with comments below.

Reno City Attorney

 
I have no idea. Please help with comments below.

United States Representative in Congress District 2

Mark E. Amodei – Republican
Clint Koble – Democratic
 
I have no idea. Please help with comments below.

Governor

Russell Best – Independent American Party

Ryan Bundy – No Political Party

Adam Paul Laxalt – Republican

Jared Lord – Libertarian Party of Nevada

Steve Sisolak – Democratic

Update: I received a call from Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood (https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/local/nevada) and they support Mr Sisolak.

 

 
I have no idea. Please help with comments below.
 

Let me know your thoughts

I’ve not deeply researched this. If you have a suggestion for me to change the way I plan to vote PLEASE let me know what and why in the comments below.

5 Replies to “How to Vote in Northern Nevada – November 2018”

  1. Okay,
    No on 1- we already have it and their signs are everywhere. Way too much money going into this one.
    Yes on 2
    No on 3: deregulation causes prices to go up (Texas)
    Yes on 4
    Yes on 5- voter registration, not compulsory voting; one less paper to fill out at the DMV.
    Yes on 6- but it’s silly; not enough and market is already going there.
    Senate Race- I hope Rosen will be more accessible.
    Reno Mayor- Schieve is a small business owner making real differences with homelessness.
    Ward 2- I think Lawrence has a shot, I like his personal story.
    Ward 4- MCKenzie has worked hard on traffic and RTC.
    Reno City Attorney- Kaldic, no sexual harassment scandal
    CD2- I recommend Koble for the reasons you like Rosen.
    Governor- Sisolak while he is LV focused he will build housing. (Also Bundy is a constitutional conservative).
    Washoe Commission 2- Wolgast, smart development guy
    Washoe 3- Jung, gets things done
    Washoe 5- Judd, problem solver!
    Family Judge- I don’t like how the judiciary committee are supporting Grossman.
    Court Justice- Caddish- I met her.
    School board- Feemster (was a principal), Church is a teacher

    1. Excellent. Thank you for sharing your thoughts Lindsy. It’s great that you have thoughts on the candidates that I know nothing about. I really appreciate you taking the time to write this up.

  2. From Reno Citizens Climate Lobby:

    Nice Ian, I finally took the time to read through the questions on the ballot so now I have some more context. Here’s my take:

    Q1 – a yes would remove the statutory rights for victims, actually making it harder for them to receive the info on cases. Its wording was so convoluted I had to read it a bunch of times to figure out what NO vs YES meant on this, but I think it’s a NO if you want to protect victim rights (leave things how they are). Please correct me if I am wrong.

    Q2 – This and Q4 are both tough ones considering our current financial state. I am all for reducing taxes for womens’ products and medical equip, but this is not smart right now. The big problem is the tax breaks given to Tesla and Switch.

    Without those potential tax gains, Nevada is really scraping it’s budget over too much bread, just look at the education system. I don’t think now is the time for more tax cuts, even though they are reaching for our soft spots (women and sick/handicapped).

    Q3 – On principal I want to say yes and open the market. But, I have to be realistic (maybe pessimistic?) knowing that really this just opens the door for some big money to come monopolize the system without any regulation. As it stands now, anyone who makes energy can sell it to NV energy, and question 6 should put them on the right path for more renewables, plus they have a public? regulation board that oversees decisions, which could be ousted if left open to the highest bidder type game. Leaning towards NO on this one. Open for more discussion for sure.

    Q4 – see explanation for question2.

    Q5 – Why not register everyone via DMV – you still have the choice to vote or not, like you advocate, but I think voter turnouts would be higher if people were already registered. Just one less step (that might deter people) when it comes to an election cycle. YES for sure.

    Q6 – YES no doubt, needed this to happen years ago

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