Secretary of State

CARSON CITY – For the first time since 1992, Nevada voters will find no question on their November ballot that qualified as the result of a citizen’s initiative petition, the secretary of state’s office has reported.
The deadline for submitting the required number of signatures to county clerks passed Tuesday with no petitions presented in any county. Three petitions to amend the state Constitution were in circulation.

CARSON CITY – A two-member panel of the state Ethics Commission has decided there is insufficient cause to move forward with a complaint that state Treasurer Kate Marshall used her office to benefit her re-election bid.

CARSON CITY – The state Board of Examiners today approved a request by the Nevada Department of Corrections for $3.4 million to cover unanticipated expenses, much of it to cover the increased cost of providing inmate medical care.
The board, made up of Gov. Jim Gibbons, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, approved the request for the current fiscal year that ends June 30. It now goes to the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee for approval on June 24.

A Carson City judge agreed with Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller who says an out-of-state organization that ran TV ads featuring gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval must register as a Political Action Committee before conducting any more political activity in the state.

Legislators this week voiced objections to the passage of Senate Bill 5 during the 2010 special session, which lifted the sunset on a temporary sales tax increase that was passed by voters in 2002.

CARSON CITY — According to data released by the Nevada Secretary of State yesterday, the number of total registered Democrats only rose by 58 in April, fewer than the number of new registered members of Nevada’s largest third party, the Independent American Party, which has 374 more registered voters. This is also well under the 710 new nonpartisan voters and 1,268 new Republican voters.

Former U.S. senator, Vietnam war hero, advocate for disabled veterans and author Max Cleland will speak to Democrats in Carson City on Wednesday, officials announced Sunday.

The Carson City Democratic Central Committee invited the former Georgia senator to speak about ongoing policy issues for the November midterm election. He will address the public at 7 p.m. in the AFSCME building at the southwest corner of Robinson and Roop streets in Carson City.

CARSON CITY — Nevadans who intend to vote early in the primary and general elections this year will likely find themselves in the dark on the question of who has contributed to the campaigns of the candidates.
Despite efforts in past legislative sessions to improve the transparency of campaign contributions received by candidates, lawmakers have failed to make meaningful reforms to the reporting process.

CARSON CITY – A spokesman for Nevada State Treasurer Kate Marshall is rejecting any suggestion that her participation in radio ads to promote a children’s contest involving a college savings program is aimed at helping her re-election campaign.

But a campaign consultant for her GOP opponent called Marshall a hypocrite for engaging in the same practice she criticized her predecessor for doing, and for “pushing the envelope” by running ads after the close of filing for office.

CARSON CITY – Las Vegas Assemblywoman Kathy McClain and Secretary of State Ross Miller reached an agreement today resolving  a complaint that she inappropriately used campaign funds to pay for her Clark County retirement contributions while serving as a lawmaker.
McClain, D-Las Vegas, agreed to make a $7,276 personal contribution to Safe Nest, a Las Vegas nonprofit supporting abused women, to cover the cost of the contribution she had made in 2009 to the Public Employees Retirement System from her campaign fund.

Carson City District Judge James T. Russell did not reach a decision at the end of today’s hearing held to determine whether Nevada Tea Party Senate candidate Scott Ashjian should be dropped from the ballot for the November election, saying he wanted to take the time to look over the information and be fair to both sides of the case.

The state Republican party has confirmed it will be filing an ethics complaint against Secretary of State Ross Miller and state Treasurer Kate Marshall alleging the improper use of publicly funded web pages, phone lines and state employees for their respective reelection campaigns.
“The Nevada Republican party is moving forward with an ethics complaint,” confirmed Ciara Turns, Communications Director for the state party.  “We look forward to the ethics commission completing an investigation into these improper actions.”

CARSON CITY – Despite being described as a “wounded” senator who has not been effective in representing Nevada in Washington, DC, state Republican officials and candidates surveyed by the Nevada News Bureau for the most part are still not calling on U.S. Senator John Ensign, R-Nev., to step down.

I've always liked Dean Heller. We might disagree politically, but my interactions with him have always been friendly. He seems like a truly nice person, the opposite of the what we see in some other Nevada politicians.

But watching him this week at the NNDA breakfast reminded me that Dean's ambition is clearly more important than adherence to truth.

You see, Dean used to come off as a lot more moderate than he does today. As assemblyman and Secretary of State, he championed causes that don't exactly line up with the national GOP's ideology.

Democrats still hold a lead in the total number of registered voters in Nevada, although Republicans hold majorities in 14 of the state's 17 counties.

U.S. Senate

Sharon Angle, Republican

Scott Ashjian, Tea Party

Gary Bernstein, Republican

Sherry Brooks, Republican

John Chachas, Republican

CARSON CITY – An inquiry into the use of campaign funds by Assemblywoman Kathy McClain in 2009 to pay her Clark County retirement contributions while serving as a lawmaker has been expanded to include additional expenditures as well.

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CARSON CITY – There are up to 20 companies that are winning lucrative contracts from state agencies that aren't registered to do business in Nevada, Secretary of State Ross Miller said today.

CARSON CITY – The Independent American Party (IAP) this week released its list of candidates for 38 different offices, including the seat now held by U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and all three congressional seats. There are candidates for state and local offices as well.

Here is a list of candidates that have filed to run in the next election as of Tuesday:

Board approves data system for stimulus officeNevada Appeal Capitol Bureau<

Corrections exempt from furloughs through JuneBy GEOFF DORNAN gdornan@nevadaappea

NV panel to again consider prison staff furloughsStaff Writer