Sandra Jauregui and Stavros Anthony are vying for the most irrelevant elected office in this or any other state. The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association earlier this month announced it is spending $1.75 million in Nevada to help defeat Republican Nevada Lieutenant Gov. Stavros Anthony. “It is the largest investment in a Nevada Lt. Governor’s race in state history,” announced the DLGA. The DLGA’s spending in Nevada includes a $1.5 million “steaming” ad buy.
Sandra Jauregui, the Nevada Democrat who is not only running against Anthony but is also every bit as irrelevant to all this as are Anthony and the office he occupies, announced separately this week that her campaign and political action committee combined have raised more than $1 million. That’s “the most ever raised by a Democratic candidate for Nevada Lieutenant Governor,” Jauregui’s campaign said in a release.
So why would so much money – $2.75 million if you combine DLGA, Jauregui’s campaign and her PAC – be spent in the hope that Jauregui is Nevada’s lieutenant governor and Anthony isn’t? No reason at all. It isn’t about them. The Democrat in the race could be a potted plant and the Republican could be a pet rock. The DLGA would still be making its “largest investment … in state history,” and the Democratic candidate and its PAC would still be amassing “the most ever raised” by a Democrat in a lieutenant governor race.
The money isn’t driven by the faults or virtues of the candidates. Nor is it about their positions on issues over which the Nevada lieutenant governor wields power and influence. Because there are no such issues.
Obligatory caveat: Yes, admittedly, if a serving Nevada governor were accidentally sucked into a micro black hole inadvertently created by a particle accelerator, the lieutenant governor becomes the governor. And then whoever that person was – whatever their party – would be tasked with earnestly explaining that now, clearly, is no time to raise the gaming tax so let’s all just tighten our belts.
And the freak particle accelerator contingency isn’t the only means by which an un-governoring could occur. For instance, a sitting governor could also be elected to the U.S. Senate. The 2026 race for lieutenant governor is all about 2028 (if it’s about anything at all) Democrats, history’s greatest hand wringers, worry that Lombardo will win reelection, and then immediately be the obvious Republican to run against Nevada Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in 2028. In case you hadn’t noticed, Cortez Masto has made no secret that she’s running for reelection.
