Gabe Stern / Associated Press
Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Senate candidate Bill Conrad, standing, speaks during a debate at the Atlantis Casino Resort ballroom in Reno on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. The seven Republican Senate candidates often criticized former Army Capt. Sam Brown, the front-runner backed by National Senate Republicans, for not showing up.
Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024 | 2 a.m.
RENO — Seven of nine candidates vying for the Republican nomination for U.S. senator from Nevada pressed their cases to voters at a debate last week in which the perceived front-runner was notably absent.
Candidates at the debate called out Sam Brown as the “hand-picked” candidate of the GOP establishment and accused him of being unwilling to face voters.
“I think it’s really the height of disrespect for a candidate that is going to represent these voters to not come here,” said candidate Tony Grady, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who finished second in the 2022 GOP primary for Nevada lieutenant governor.
“If I was endorsed by (Sens.) Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and the RINO uniparty, I wouldn’t be here either,” said 2022 secretary of state nominee Jim Marchant, a vocal election denier, to a round of applause. The RINO acronym stands for Republican in name only.
Brown, the retired U.S. Army captain who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for senator in 2022, is seen as the favorite to win the nomination after earning the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the official fundraising arm of the Senate GOP conference campaign.
Brown’s decision to sit out the debate — the best chance yet for voters to get a closer look at the crowded field of Republicans vying for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination in Nevada ahead of the June 11 primary election — appeared to be a strategic decision on his part.
More than 100 people filled a ballroom at the Atlantis casino for the Thursday night debate, and hundreds more watched a livestream of the event, giving some candidates their biggest forum yet before prospective voters.
Brown’s campaign did not respond to a query from the Sun but told The Associated Press the decision to bypass the debate highlighted his strong grassroots support and hefty resources.
“The numbers say it all: Sam Brown is the only candidate in this race with the resources, support and grassroots energy to take on (incumbent Democratic Sen.) Jacky Rosen,” Brown’s campaign told the AP in a statement. “Nevada Republicans are uniting behind Donald Trump and Sam Brown because they are the only conservative champions who can defeat Biden and Rosen in November.”
Another candidate Jeff Gunter, a former U.S. ambassador to Iceland in the Trump administration,did not attend the debate, citing a scheduling conflict.
In addition to the candidates, audience members also took issue with Brown’s absence.
“It was disrespectful,” Caroline Smith, 72, of Reno, said after the debate. “If you’re going to run for a position, get up on the stage with the big boys and answer questions. It reminds me of (President Joe) Biden hiding in his basement.”
Kathy McGee, 64, of Reno, expressed similar sentiment.
“He’s not Trump,” McGee said of Brown. “He can’t just dismiss it.”
Trump, the perceived frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, has yet to commit to any debates. His unwillingness to debate has seemingly emboldened candidates from both parties to disengage from the long-held tradition of debating in front of voters.
When running in the 2022 GOP Senate primary, Brown repeatedly called out the eventual nominee, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, for refusing to debate.
Brown accused Laxalt of “cowardly hiding from voters” and being the hand-picked choice of the establishment and special interests.
But the strategy worked for Laxalt. He bested Brown, who finished second in the 2022 primary.
Laxalt narrowly lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto. Fewer than 8,000 votes separated the two out of nearly a million votes cast.
Laxalt’s strategy could work for Brown, but it’s too early to tell. Polling for the primary has been scarce, but a November poll conducted by the Tarrance Group and commissioned by the NRSC found Brown the top choice for the nomination with 24% support. The poll found 40% of voters undecided.
Trump reigns supreme
The former president received near universal praise from the debaters for his “America First” platform during his first term. That was especially true when it came to questions about foreign policy, immigration and the economy.
Only one candidate, retired Army Lt. Col. Bill Conrad, talked as if Trump wasn’t already the GOP nominee.
“The No. 1 thing we can all do is elect (Florida Gov. Ron) DeSantis or Trump as president,” Conrad said when asked how to stop the influx of immigrants entering the U.S. at the southern border. “You have to secure the border; you have to send everybody back.”
Candidate Ronda Kennedy, a Las Vegas attorney, said, if elected, she would seek a seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee because she believes Trump is being persecuted and that the federal courts have become too politicized.
“Look at what’s happening with the persecution of President Trump,” Kennedy said of the former president who is facing 91 criminal charges spanning two federal cases, as well as cases in New York and Georgia.
“I want to be on the Judiciary Committee so that I can make sure that we don’t get slippery, slimy judges placed on a bench that the only way to get rid of them is to impeach them,” she said.
Former gubernatorial candidate Barry Lindemann told the crowd, to some applause, he would not support sending more aid to Ukraine for its fight against Russia, a position Trump and some other conservatives also hold.
“I don’t think we need to go spend willy-nilly just because somebody cries that they need help,” Lindemann said. “As far as Ukraine goes, Europe needs to buck up. That’s in your backyard, buddy. So get it done. And I don’t want to hear about it.”
Aware of abortion
The panel also acknowledged the success Democrats had in 2022 energizing voters over the issue of abortion.
The Supreme Court in June of that year made a ruling effectively reversing the ruling made in the 1973 landmark case Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a federal right to the procedure.
Since then, nearly half of states have instituted restrictions on abortion access. Other states, such as Michigan, Ohio and Kansas, have taken steps to protect the right to seek an abortion.
Candidate Stephanie Phillips, a real estate agent, said abortion access in Nevada had remained unaffected and accused Democrats of scaring and misleading voters into thinking abortion rights would be taken away if Republicans win a majority in Congress.
A voter referendum in 1990 ensured the right to an abortion through 24 weeks of pregnancy in Nevada.
“They were all lying,” Phillips said. “When I hear our two senators in Washington saying they’re standing up and fighting for women’s rights, no they’re not. … Regardless of what any of us think about abortion, our job is to uphold the law and uphold the Constitution. Women want to be heard. Women want to feel protected. They want to feel that their body is their body and they can do what they want with it. I would choose not to get an abortion. … I am pro-life (but) I’m not going to tell a woman what to do with her body.”
Democrats, however, say if a federal ban were enacted, it would supersede state law.
Each of the seven candidates Thursday stated they were pro-life, but none of them said whether they would support a national abortion ban if elected.
“If you’re asking as a Democrat, it’s a women’s civil liberties issue. But if you’re asking as a Republican, you’re trying to save babies,” Lindemann said. “The Democrats trick us on this question. They had you choose, and it’s not a binary choice.”
All the candidates agreed abortion would likely be an issue that reemerges on the campaign trail and that producing a palatable choice for voters may ultimately decide which party controls Washington.
“We’ve got to answer this question correctly, because getting a Republican into our United States Senate seat may hinge on this,” Lindemann said.
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