April Corbin Girnus, Nevada Current

A mere 48 hours after saying it was “too soon to opine” on the prospect of using the Nevada National Guard to aid the incoming Trump administration in mass deporting immigrants, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed onto a letter stating he stands “ready to utilize every tool at (his) disposal—whether through state law enforcement or the National Guard.”

Lombardo was one of 26 governors to sign a joint statement released Wednesday by the Republican Governors Association. Only one Republican governor, Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont, did not sign onto the letter.

“As Republican governors, we stand united in support of President Donald Trump’s unwavering commitment to make America safe again by addressing the illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security,” begins the letter.

The letter concludes: “Together, we will continue to defend the American people, uphold the rule of law, and ensure our nation remains safe and secure for future generations. We stand ready to utilize every tool at our disposal—whether through state law enforcement or the National Guard—to support President Trump in this vital mission.”

A full-throated expression of support appears to contradict statements Lombardo made two days earlier, on Monday, at the Western Governors’ Association, a separate bipartisan group.

When asked if he would consider authorizing the Nevada National Guard to aid the Trump administration in mass deportations, Lombardo replied that “the devil’s in the details” and that it was “too soon to opine on the nebulous or the unknown.”

Lombardo said “we have to figure out what is the better need” for the state’s National Guard and “whether the mission takes priority within the state or to the federal picture or the federal windows, that’s the best way we can answer.”

The Nevada Current reached out to Lombardo’s office Wednesday asking him to clarify his position on the usage of the Nevada National Guard for mass deportations, and what, if any, details about Trump’s plans came to light between his comments Monday and the RGA’s statement Wednesday. The office did not immediately respond.

According to the American Immigration Council, mass deportation in Nevada would:

remove some 136,000 undocumented workers who make up 9% of the state’s employed workforce, the highest share per capita in the nation;remove almost one-quarter of skilled construction workers and 13% of hospitality workers:result in the loss of 43% of landscaping and groundskeeping workers; 42.5% of construction laborers, 41.6% of carpenters, 35.3% of housekeeping workers, and 25.4% of cooks.

AIC also estimates a one-time deportation operation would cost the U.S. $315 billion. Detaining immigrants is estimated to cost $167.8 billion.

Trump has said “there is no price tag” when it comes to mass deportations and that his administration will have “no choice” but to carry them out.

Between attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris and haranguing the media for what he saw as a rigged primetime debate, former President Donald Trump used much of his Las Vegas rally on Friday night to stoke fears about immigrants.

The Republican nominee for president repeatedly claimed that under the Biden-Harris administration hyperbolic numbers of immigrants have poured into the United States to take American jobs, rape and murder women and children, get transgender surgery, vote in elections, take over whole apartment buildings to house their gangs, and “conquer our country.”

“We have thousands and thousands and thousands of terrorists coming into our country,” Trump declared. He claimed immigrants are coming from other countries’ prisons, jails, mental institutions, and insane asylums.

“Kamala would be the president of invasion,” said Trump, “and I will be the president of making this country stronger, better, more beautiful, bigger, more powerful, wealthier, safer than ever before.”

He promised that, if given a second term, there will be mass deportations. Parts of the country — including Aurora, Colorado — need to be “liberated” from migrant gangs that have taken over, he said.

The Trump campaign estimated 6,000 supporters attended the rally at The Expo at World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas. It marked Trump’s first public event in Nevada since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. (A visit to a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas three weeks ago was closed to the public.)

Anti-immigrant rhetoric came up repeatedly during his remarks, which stretched longer than an hour. At one point, Trump recited “The Snake,” a song whose lyrics tell a fable of a tender woman who helps a half-frozen snake only to get bitten by the poisonous creature. In the lyrics, the woman asks the snake why it bit her when she’d saved it, and the snake replies, “You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in!”

Trump has spun the song into a warning about immigration, telling the crowd in Las Vegas it was “very accurate to what is happening in this country.”

“The Snake” was a staple of his rallies during his first presidential campaign in 2016

On video screens flanking the stage, the campaign displayed images connecting immigrants to crime. In one, labeled “The Harris plan for sex traffickers,” a red carpet leads to open gates at the U.S. border. Another read “no one is safe with Kamala’s open borders” and featured a man with a weapon lurking behind a woman in a dark alley. A third showed a group of tattooed Latino men and read “your new apartment managers if Kamala’s re-elected.”

Trump referenced real crimes involving immigrants, including an alleged abduction in Virginia earlier this month. He also made reference to Springfield, Ohio — a community that was thrust into the spotlight during the presidential debate earlier in the week when Trump falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants are “eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Trump criticized the moderators of the debate, who had fact checked him in real time and pointed out that city leaders in Springfield have said there are no credible claims of pets being eaten by immigrants. (Trump’s response to the fact check was that he “saw it on tv.”) He also repeated a false claim that has circulated online suggesting Harris wore an earpiece and might have been fed answers.

At one point, Trump paused his speech to air a video clip of Harris happily laughing and saying “thank you” repeatedly to a crowd of her supporters, calling her behavior “weird.” Before Trump went on stage, video screens at the venue displayed a screenshot of a 2017 headline referencing Harris as the first Indian-American to serve in the U.S. Senate. (Harris is Black and Indian American.)

Trump brought out on stage with him Sam Brown, the Republican challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen. Trump praised Brown, saying he was committed to being “a border senator” to his “border president.” Brown gave Trump a copy of his memoir.

Other Trump supporters who spoke at the event included Nevada Republican Party chair Michael McDonald, Clark County Republican Party chair Jesse Law, right-wing radio personality Wayne Allen Root, “Pawn Stars” personality Rick Harrison, UFC fighter and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo, and Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic representative from Hawaii.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.

Two Nevada gaming giants are featured in a new report calling out excessive CEO pay at large corporations.

The “Executive Excess” report from the Institute for Policy Studies and Inequality.org analyzed what the organizations have deemed the “Low-Wage 100” — the S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median wages. Combined, these companies last year paid their CEOs on average 538 times what they paid a typical worker, meaning for every $1 earned by a rank-and-file worker, the CEO received $538.

“All employees contribute to corporate profits, but too many of our country’s top-tier corporations are doing a spectacularly poor job of sharing the rewards,” reads the report, which noted the average CEO-to-worker ratio for all S&P 500 corporations last year was 268 to 1.

Caesars Entertainment reported a CEO-worker pay ratio of 560 to 1. CEO Thomas Reeg was compensated $18.6 million while median pay for workers was $33,250.

MGM Resorts International reported a CEO-worker pay ratio of 374 to 1. CEO William Hornbuckle made $17 million while median pay for workers was $45,502.

Las Vegas Sands, which no longer operates gaming properties on the Strip but is still headquartered in Nevada, also made the Low Wage 100 list. CEO Robert Goldstein made $21.9 million in 2023 while the median worker made $41,185.

For comparison, the largest gap between CEO and median worker pay was Nike, where CEO, John Donahoe II made 975 times more than the average worker — $32.8 million compared to $33,646.

Gaming CEOS are no stranger to criticism for their high pay. A separate report from last year by the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow listed Reeg and Goldstein as among the most overpaid CEOs. That analysis looked at CEO-worker ratios but also shareholder returns and votes against CEO pay packages.

The Institute for Policy Studies report found that all but seven companies used some of their profits over the past five years for stock buybacks, and nearly half spent more on buybacks than on capital improvements.

Stock buybacks are “a once illegal financial maneuver that allows corporate executives to create huge short-term windfalls for themselves and shareholders at the expense of workers and long-term productive investments,” the report argues.

Caesars was one of the seven companies that did not partake in the practice between 2019 and 2023, but MGM did. MGM spent $8.2 billion in stock buybacks between 2019 and 2023.

The Institute for Policy Studies report also highlighted possible policy reforms, including “taxing and restricting stock buybacks, subjecting corporations with excessive levels of CEO pay to higher tax levies, and using federal contracts and subsidies to discourage wide corporate pay gaps.”

The full report and its recommendations are available online.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.

The Nevada State Public Charter School on Friday approved the opening of an Elko charter school that plans to use curricula from Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian private college with an outreach program “devoted to the revitalization of public education through the launch and support of classical K-12 charter schools.”

Nevada Classical Academy Elko was given the greenlight to open in Fall 2025. Enrollment will start at 113 students in kindergarten to third grade, then expand to 357 students in grades K-8 over six years. On its public website, the charter school describes classical education as having an “emphasis on moral character, civic virtue, and servant leadership” and notes it “is the preferred choice by a growing number of homeschool communities, micro-school pods, private schools, and public charter schools.”

But critics say that in practice “classical” curriculum pushes a sanitized version of the nation’s past that whitewashes history by downplaying the significance of slavery and treating racism as something that no longer exists.

Brandolyn Thran, Nevada Classical Academy Elko’s newly hired school leader, in an interview with the Current acknowledged that Hillsdale College has a clear political reputation but said that the charter school is apolitical.

“The curriculum is phenomenal for all children and works to look at this experiment of nation-building in the most analytical and fair way possible,” she said. “The curriculum asks the question: What was happening at the time, what was the outcome, what can we learn from, and how can we do better? I think it tackles some very complicated, complex, tough conversations. The intention is to think critically and move in a positive direction from that.”

Thran, who has lived in Elko since 2016, most recently taught science in nearby Carlin at Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy, a residential public school program sponsored by the Nevada National Guard for at-risk 16- to 18-year-olds who have dropped out or are at-risk of dropping out.

Nevada Classical Academy Elko was approved by the Charter School Authority Board without any discussion of the school’s curriculum. Charter schools must adhere to Nevada Academic Content Standards but have wide autonomy when it comes to choosing their curricula and approach.

Hillsdale College has become a go-to resource for Republican state leaders across the country as they seek to push back on critical race theory or what they see as “woke” ideologies.

Hillsdale’s charter school initiative already has a presence in Nevada. Founders Classical Academy Las Vegas is a member school and will be providing support to the new Elko charter school. The Las Vegas charter school’s website highlights an essay by an advisor to Hillsdale’s Barney Charter School Initiative describing classical education as “a clear break from modern, progressive education and a return to traditional aims and methods.”

“Some might call it ‘conservative,’ but we prefer the term ‘traditional,’” it also reads.

Nevada Classical will be Elko County’s second charter school. The rural county’s first charter school, Elko Institute for Academic Achievement, opened in 2009 and is a five-star rated school with around 200 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. EIAA is not associated with Hillsdale or any classical education groups.

EIAA this year expanded by moving into a newer, bigger facility, and Nevada Classical will be leasing its former facility, noting that it has already been set up for a school environment.

District input

As part of the application process, the public school district that serves students in the area where a proposed charter school wishes to open are asked to provide input on the possible impacts.

Elko County School District did not oppose or support the charter school, but noted in its statement that “according to the needs assessment criteria set forth by the SPCSA and completed by the NCEA, the applicant does meet identified needs for some of our community.”

The district included data from the 2023-24 academic year showing that only two of the 41 students who unenrolled from the district in order to attend a charter school had left one of the low-performing schools Nevada Classical says it is targeting.

The district also noted that of its three 1- or 2-star schools, two were rated 3- or 4-stars prior to the pandemic and saw a massive drop in ratings once school ratings resumed, but are now improving to pre-covid levels.

Students at 1- and 2-star schools, as well as students in populations like English language learners (ELL) that are considered historically underserved, are by law supposed to be considered as part of the approval processes for any new charter schools.

Only three of the 41 students who withdrew from the district for a charter school last academic year were classified as ELL, according to the district.

According to Nevada Classical’s application, 37 of the 117 children whose parents filled out a form stating they intend to enroll in at the charter school once it opens are currently homeschooling their children; 31 of the students are currently enrolled in public school.

Thran said she believes the classical education model’s focus on “virtuous living” — which Hillsdale describes as “courtesy, courage, honesty, perseverance, self governance and service” — is appealing to many homeschool families.

Elko County SD also acknowledged in its materials that it has contemplated adding a new elementary school or increasing capacity to a junior high school, but that “a severe lack of capital funding from the county has made this a very difficult effort to realize in the near future.”

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.

Vice President Kamala Harris during a high-energy rally in Las Vegas on Saturday acknowledged the momentum of her recently launched presidential campaign but warned supporters that defeating former President Donald Trump will not be easy.

“We have 87 days until the election,” she told a packed crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center. “We know this will be a tight race until the very end.”

Saturday marked Harris’ seventh trip to Nevada this year but her first as the Democratic presidential nominee. The rally, which came roughly three weeks after President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Harris as the party’s nominee, was the final stop of a five-day, six-state tour designed to introduce swing state voters to her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

More than 12,000 people attended, according to the Harris-Walz campaign, and an estimated 4,000 people were turned away from the event by local law enforcement over concerns people were overheating while waiting to get through event security in triple-digit heat.

Walz acknowledged those who were unable to make it into the arena, saying, “Don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”

Harris, Walz and their opening speakers oscillated between grave warnings that personal freedoms and democracy are at stake in the election and joyous celebration of the prospect of electing the country’s first woman president.

Walz said Harris and supporters have reminded him that politics “can be about goodness.”

“It can be about smiling,” he added. “It’s hard work but we can be happy doing it. Kamala Harris has done something we should be forever grateful for. She has brought out the joy in our politics.”

For roughly an hour before the speeches began, DJ D-Nice entertained the crowd, who danced and sang while waving hundreds of signs passed out by the campaign. Scattered among the crowd were some homemade signs, including one reading “Coach Walz,” a nod to the governor’s time as a high school football coach, and “Kamala is brat,” a pop culture term of endearment popularized by Gen Z in reference to a new album by Charli XCX.

Harris in her remarks said the stakes of the 2024 election are “even higher” than they were in 2016 or 2020 because of the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that presidents have criminal immunity for actions taken while in office.

“Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution should never again stand behind the seal of the United States,” she said to uproarious applause. Harris was referring to a declaration Trump made on social media in 2022.

Harris criticized Trump for derailing a bipartisan immigration reform package and tied him to Project 2025, a sprawling 922-page plan crafted by a right-wing think tank to dramatically expand presidential powers and restructure the federal government. Included in the blueprint are proposals that would decimate worker rights and public unions, revive efforts to bury nuclear waste in Southern Nevada, and rollback progress on LGBTQ+ rights.

“I keep saying, I can’t believe they put that in writing,” added Harris.

Walz in his remarks cautioned that “when someone draws up a blueprint, they plan on using it.”

Harris contrasted her professional background with Trump, saying as attorney general she prosecuted predatory for-profit universities while Trump ran one, and as a prosecutor specialized in sexual abuse cases while Trump was found liable for sexual abuse.

Walz leaned into the national trend he started of labeling the policies being pushed by Trump and his allies as “weird.”

“We don’t have to agree with them or make the same choices, but we know (in) this nation things work best when you mind your own damn business,” he said. “I don’t need any help from those guys telling me what books to read. I sure as heck don’t need any lecture about morality from those guys. And the last ‘they can mind their own damn business’ is: I don’t need any help from them talking about my family.”

Walz and his wife had their daughter, Hope, after years of fertility treatment and in vitro fertilization. Because it involves embryos, IVF has been impacted by strict anti-abortion laws passed in some states following the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Walz highlighted Harris’ commitment to protecting reproductive freedom, passing common-sense gun laws, and further reforming federal student loan programs.

“I know very clearly that I am preaching to the choir,” Walz told the crowd, “but hear my words for you: The choir needs to sing.”

Recent polling has suggested Harris is now leading Trump in some key swing states and remains neck-and-neck in others. The Trump campaign has suggested the enthusiasm will not last through Election Day this November.

“Let’s not pay too much attention to the polls,” Harris told the crowd at one point, “because we have some hard work ahead of us. But we like hard work.”

Nevada Democrats show support

Harris and Walz were joined at their rally by all five of Nevada’s Congressional Democrats.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto called Harris a “a good friend” and spoke of their collaboration as attorneys general of neighboring states. Cortez Masto was Nevada AG from 2007 to 2015, and Harris was California AG from 2011 to 2017. Both women left the positions after being elected to the U.S. Senate.

According to media reports, Cortez Masto was among the people Harris consulted with on her vice presidential pick.

Cortez Masto reminded the crowd she won reelection in 2022 by less than 1% of votes. That win helped Democrats maintain the slimmest of majorities in the U.S. Senate.

“It’s a reminder that every vote counts,” she added.

Sen. Jacky Rosen is facing a challenge from Republican Sam Brown. The heavily watched race is expected to be close and may be pivotal in deciding which party controls the chamber.

U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, who is up for reelection in a competitive district, accused Trump of wanting to raise the age for accessing Social Security and cut benefits by 30%.

Afterward, she led the crowd in a chant of, “That’s not just weird. That’s just wrong.”

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, who is up for reelection this year in a district that leans blue, took a lighter tone on stage, calling herself “one of the childless cat ladies” that Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance disparaged in 2021 remarks on Fox News. Those remarks — in which Vance said the county was being run by a Democratic party made up of “corporate oligarchs” and “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made” — resurfaced after the senator was announced as Trump’s running mate last month.

Titus joked that Vance had apologized to cats but not to her.

“You’d better hide behind that sofa,” she added, “because we’re coming for you.”

The reference to a sofa was likely a jab related to a viral internet joke-turned-rumor that claimed Vance in his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” had written about having sex with a couch.

Walz made a similar zinger about Vance and a couch during an earlier rally in Pennsylvania but did not repeat the joke during the Nevada rally.

Titus noted she sat alongside Walz on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard.

A day before the rally, the Culinary union announced its endorsement of the Harris-Walz ticket. Both candidates acknowledged the union on stage. The union is seen as a vital organizing powerhouse for Democrats.

Harris during her speech said she would support raising the minimum wage and ending taxation on tips. Trump during a June rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas said he would end taxation of tips. Rosen and Cortez Masto have both signed onto bipartisan legislation to end taxation on tips.

Tillie Torres, an English teacher at Mater Academy in Las Vegas, spoke on stage about receiving student loan forgiveness through the Biden-Harris administration. Torres said her approximately $40,000 in student loans ballooned while she was dealing with having cancer and caring for her injured husband. She said she owed $87,000 on her 30-year-old loans when she qualified for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

The PSLF program predates the current presidential administration but was cumbersome and underused. The Biden administration reformed the program, leading to an estimated 793,000 people receiving $56.8 billion in forgiveness, as of earlier this year.

Torres credited her daughter, state Assemblywoman Selena Torres, for telling her about the loan forgiveness program, which she added provided her “financial freedom for the first time.”

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.

A national civil rights leader is calling on Nevada to investigate a prominent Las Vegas businessman and Republican donor following allegations he repeatedly used racial slurs in the workplace and once pulled a gun on a Black truck driver.

The Rev. Al Sharpton wrote a letter to Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford calling for an investigation into Don Ahern, who made his name and fortune as a construction equipment tycoon and has become a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump and other GOP candidates, including congressional hopeful John Lee.

Sharpton’s call for an investigation, first reported by The Hill last month, came in response to documents surfaced from a now-settled 2022 lawsuit brought by a former Ahern Rentals employee in California. Mark Townsend alleged Ahern as CEO “regularly and frequently” used the n-word and made discriminatory comments about other marginalized groups. CNBC reported on the allegations ahead of Trump’s most recent visit to Las Vegas, where Ahern co-hosted a private fundraiser for the former president with suggested donation levels ranging from $1,000 per person to more than $840,000 per couple.

Townsend alleged Ahern made repeated racist, sexist and ageist remarks during business meetings, including saying:

“We don’t like hiring n—–s. They are dumb. They are just born that way.”“We do not hire any n——s or women for the sales force or positions where they are first seen by the public.”“We need to get rid of all the old f——s, n—–s, Mexicans, and women, because they’re useless.”

In his lawsuit, Townsend also alleged that Evan Ahern, the CEO’s son, said, “We do not hire n—–s at Ahern Rentals.” To which Don Ahern allegedly responded, “Or fat people, they have way too many health issues.”

Townsend, who was fired from Ahern Rentals shortly after turning 58, argued he was a victim of age discrimination and claimed Ahern had previously told managers, “If you have any employees getting close to the age of 60 start lining up their replacement now and get rid of them as soon as possible.”

Ahern has previously denied all of the allegations. He could not be reached for comment this week. The lawsuit was settled out of court. Months after the settlement, Ahern Rentals was acquired by United Rentals, a Connecticut-based publicly traded company that describes itself as the largest equipment rental company in the world.

One of Ahern’s former attorneys, Mohammed Sami Bakdash, confirmed in a May deposition related to separate litigation against an Ahern company that he heard the CEO use the derogatory language cited in Townsend’s lawsuit. That deposition was also reported by CNBC.

In his letter to Ford, which the Current obtained, Sharpton references additional sworn statements made during litigation against Ahern, including one alleging the CEO once “called a truck driver the ‘n-word’ and pulled a gun on him.”

Sharpton acknowledges in his letter that because Ford is a Democratic attorney general who is Black, a potential investigation into a Trump donor would be politically charged and invite conservative ire “but the sworn statements of these courageous employees should also compel you to rise above that and do what is right for those either intimidated by or denied an opportunity due to Ahern’s warped view of the world.”

He added, “I make this inquiry not for political reasons, but moral ones.”

Ford’s office did not respond to the Current’s requests to confirm or comment on the letter by publication time.

Prominent political donor

Don Ahern has long been a political donor and has been known within the construction industry and business community in Nevada, but he has received increased attention in recent years because of his staunch support of Trump.

Ahern Rentals has been operating under that brand since 1997 but its history goes back to an equipment rental company founded by Ahern’s father in 1958, according to the company website. In 2022, when the company was acquired by United Rentals for $2 billion, Ahern Rentals was the eighth largest equipment rental company in North America.

According to its website, the Ahern Family of Companies incorporates 20 brands, including Xtreme Manufacturing, which Ahern launched in 2003; Snorkel, which he acquired majority stake of in 2013; and Ahern Hotel, an off-Strip boutique hotel and convention center in operation since late 2019.

During the covid pandemic, the convention center unsuccessfully challenged Nevada’s covid emergency directive limiting the size of gatherings in meeting facilities. In 2021, the hotel made headlines again for welcoming a Qanon conference after Caesars Entertainment canceled their reservation amid public outcry.

That same year, Ahern donated $250,000 to the Make America Great Again, Again PAC and joined the Nevada State Republican Party as finance chairman. He has hosted private fundraisers and events for the former president, who has referenced him by first name on stage during at least one public rally.

But Ahern’s financial support isn’t limited to the former president.

In December, Ahern and his wife, Carolyn Lee Ahern, both donated $4,950 to Republican John Lee’s congressional campaign. Trump has endorsed Lee.

Ahern’s financial support of Lee goes back to at least 2004, when Lee, then a Democrat, was serving in the Nevada State Legislature. According to the state’s campaign finance disclosure database, Ahern companies have donated more than $45,000 to Lee between 2004 and 2021, his last year running for statewide office.

In social media posts, Lee has referred to Ahern and Lloyd Benson, president of a vocational training company owned by Ahern, as “ good friends” and acknowledged they have hosted campaign events for him. Benson was listed as a co-host of the most recent Trump fundraiser in Las Vegas.

Lee did not respond to the Current’s request for comment on Ahern.

Lee is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District. Cook Political Report lists the race as ‘likely Democrat’ but uncertainty at the top of the Democratic ticket may impact races up and down the ballot.

Horsford chairs the Congressional Black Caucus.

Since 2018, Ahern has also given $13,000 to U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District. His most recent contribution to Amodei was in October 2022.

In this year’s Nevada GOP Senate primary, Ahern donated $1,700 to Tony Grady, who placed fourth behind primary winner Sam Brown and fellow challengers Jeff Gunter and Jim Marchant. During the 2022 Nevada GOP Senate primary, Ahern contributed $5,800 to Brown over Adam Laxalt.

Also in 2022, Ahern gave $2,500 to Mark Robertson, the Republican challenger to Democratic U.S. Rep. Dina Titus. Robertson is challenging Titus again this year, though Ahern does not appear to have contributed to the effort.

Ahern has also given to out-of-state candidates in Arizona, Tennessee, and Utah.

At the state level, Ahern has directly given to numerous candidates. Earlier this year, he gave $2,000 to Henderson City Councilman Dan Shaw, who is running for reelection, and since 2021 he has contributed to Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson, Jim Marchant (when he was running for secretary of state), Sigal Chattah (when she was running for attorney general), and Henderson Mayor Debra Anne March.

According to campaign finance reports filed with the state, Ahern’s companies have also contributed to down-ballot candidates.

On June 1, Ahern Families of Companies provided $10,000 worth of billboard ads to Rebecca Wolfson, who was running for Las Vegas Municipal Judge, Department 5. Wolfson, the daughter of Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, secured the position by getting more than 50% of the votes during the June 9 primary.

Another Ahern-linked company, 333 North Rancho LLC, contributed $1,500 to Republican April Becker, who is running for Clark County Commission’s District C.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X.

The Trump campaign and its Republican allies on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging Nevada’s ballot receipt deadline.

Nevada law allows for mail ballots postmarked on Election Day to be accepted and counted if they are received by county election officials within four days. This year, Election Day is Nov. 5, meaning ballots postmarked on or before that date must be accepted and counted if they are received by election offices by 5 p.m. on Nov. 9.

Plaintiffs in the new lawsuit argue that practice violates federal law and as a result “valid, timely ballots are dilated by untimely, invalid ballots.” They are asking the court to block the counting of any mail ballots received after Election Day..

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by Trump’s reelection campaign, the Republican National Committee, the Nevada Republican Party and Donald J. Szymanski, a Nevada voter. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, Clark County Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo and Washoe County Registrar of Voters Cari-Ann Burgess are named as defendants, as are the county clerks for Clark and Washoe.

Aguilar, in a statement provided by his office, said Nevada’s elections are “some of the most secure, transparent, and accessible elections in the country” and that voting by mail is a key component of accessibility.

“Our office will not comment on ongoing litigation,” his statement continued, “but I hope the RNC is putting as much time and energy into educating voters on how to participate in elections as they put into suing the state of Nevada.”

Nevada Democrats were quick to call the lawsuit baseless. Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director Hilary Barrett said in a statement the lawsuit is “yet another tactic to undermine democracy and disenfranchise thousands of Nevada voters by limiting when ballots can be accepted — even when postmarked by Election Day.”

The ballot receipt deadline lawsuit is one of three Republicans are pursuing in Nevada. The others are challenging a state law protecting election workers and its voter roll maintenance policy.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and Twitter.

Nevada State Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid is one of six non-Georgia residents being summoned to testify in an upcoming trial for Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell — two attorneys indicted by the Peach State for their part in attempting to overthrow the results of the 2020 election.

Fulton County prosecutors in a legal filing say DeGraffenreid and Chesebro communicated about the logistics of the convening of Nevada’s fake electors for former President Donald Trump on Dec. 14, 2020 and that Chesebro provided “specific documents and instructions” to DeGraffenreid.

“DeGraffenreid possesses unique knowledge concerning communications between himself and Kenneth John Chesebro and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Nevada, Georgia, and elsewhere,” reads the filing dated Oct. 3.

According to the document, which was reported on by Politico, DeGraffenreid’s testimony is expected to last no longer than one day.

The State of Georgia has indicted 19 people for racketeering, conspiracy and a slew of other crimes. The group includes Trump himself, his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and his former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Chesebro and Powell have opted for a speedy trial, and their trial is set to begin Oct. 23 in the downtown Atlanta courthouse.

No trial dates have been set for Trump and the other 16 defendants.

What we know about DeGraffenreid’s involvement

DeGraffenreid, along with Nevada State Republican Chairman Michael McDonald, were both subpoenaed by the U.S. House January 6th Committee, which investigated Trump’s role in the 2021 attack on the capitol.

Transcripts of their oral testimony show both DeGraffenreid and McDonald declined to answer questions about their role as Nevada fake electors, citing the Fifth Amendment. But emails and documents submitted as part of that investigation showed direct communication between the Nevadans and Chesebro.

A Dec. 10, 2020 email from Chesebro to McDonald, DeGraffenried and others read: “Mayor Giuliani and others with the Trump-Pence campaign, including (Trump campaign officials) Justin Clark and Nick Trainer, asked me to reach out to you and the other Nevada electors to run point on the plan to have all Trump-Pence electors in all six contested states meet and transmit their votes to Congress on Monday, December 14.”

A Dec. 9, 2020 memo from Chesebro titled “Statutory Requirements for December 14th Electoral Votes” read: “Nevada is an extremely problematic State because it requires the meeting of the electors to be overseen by the Secretary of State, who is only supposed to permit electoral votes for the winner of the popular vote in Nevada.”

It continued, “If there were a vote in Congress to take Nevada away from Biden and Harris, presumably along with it would come a vote to overlook this procedural detail.”

In a Dec. 10, 2020 email to DeGraffenried, Chesebro wrote that Giuliani was “focused on doing everything possible to ensure that all the Trump-Pence electors vote on December 14th.”

“It may well be,” Chesebro continued, “that the electoral vote proceeds without the participation of the Secretary of State” in Nevada “on the view that these technical aspects of state law are unlikely to matter much in the end.”

DeGraffenreid — and McDonald — were also called to testify in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigation of Trump. Both received “ limited immunity” for their testimony, according to CNN.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has said DeGraffenreid, McDonald and their fellow fake electors will face no charges in the Silver State.

“With it on our radar, we ascertained that current state statutes did not directly address the conduct in question,” Ford testified during a legislative hearing in May.