Jon Ralston

Columnist

Jon has been covering politics and government for the Sun since 2000 and is the host of the television show "Face to Face with Jon Ralston." He provides the inside story of what's really happening in Nevada. His column appears Sunday, Wednesday, Friday

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Hope and change and … what’s missing?: Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012; Somewhere between Gov. Sunny’s radiating optimism and the Nevada Policy Research Institute’s scathing indictment lies the reality of the state’s new economic development plan, which is replete with clichés and promises yet leavened with kernels of wisdom that could grow into something substantive.
Home means Nevada to me: Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012; I write this Saturday morning, long before any caucus returns are in, but the results for Nevada already are: We lost.
Inside the campaign war rooms: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012; AS THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY IN THE HISTORY OF NEVADA POLITICS looms Saturday, I had the privilege of being allowed inside each of the campaign’s inner sanctums this week.
A guide to Nevada for presidential candidates: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012; As the Republican presidential hopefuls arrive in Nevada, I want to take some time to welcome them to our fair state and graciously provide some helpful pointers.
Here’s hoping GOP doesn’t botch Nevada’s big moment: Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012; I was wrong and I’m thrilled — and petrified.
Obama’s visit, a strange ballot and Goodmans galore: Friday, Jan. 27, 2012; The president was here, the Republicans are coming, and an election already has begun — here’s your Friday Flash.
Is presidential race a replay of Reid-Angle?: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012; Wherever the insurgent and surging Republican candidate went, the name linked to the Democratic incumbent could be heard with a sneer: Saul Alinsky, the leftist community organizer and author of “Rules for Radicals.”
Much at stake economically, politically in Station, Culinary fight: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012; An escalating conflict between the city’s dominant, homegrown casino company and the state’s most aggressive, successful labor organization has emerged from the shadows of resorts to the brightness of the public square, threatening to force politicians to take sides and to inflict collateral damage on others inside and outside Nevada.
Adelson vs. the Establishment — again: Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012; In 1998, Sheldon Adelson put his money where his ideology was and rolled snake eyes.
The tax base discussion cometh (and then goeth): Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012; If you cover politics long enough, especially in Nevada, everything new will seem old.
Every number tells a story, don’t it?: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012; Politics is about many things — policies, character, atmospherics. But it also is, inexorably, about numbers.
Heller goes to Hispanic Central and survives: Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012; Sen. Dean Heller strolled into Dona Maria’s restaurant near downtown Las Vegas on Friday morning knowing what was in store for him at a Hispanics in Politics breakfast.
State GOP can’t get act together: Friday, Jan. 6, 2012; Having returned from a holiday recess — I made no appointments nor did I hold any pro forma sessions — I am bursting with musings, especially about the elephantine problems of the state GOP.
Predictions for year ahead in politics: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012; Iowa is so yesterday, and today I am about tomorrow.
The top 10 political stories of 2011: Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011; It seems comically ironic that during a year in which the Nevada judiciary essentially dissolved the other two branches that 2011 concludes with the courts poised to decide a seminal separation of powers case.
Culinary member Horsford steps on the Station track: Friday, Dec. 16, 2011; It’s hard to think of any elected official closer to the Culinary Union than state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford.
State GOP’s worst enemy: Republicans: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011; Political parties, generally, are made up of two sorts of regulars: The half-crazy and the full-on nuts.
Decision should be wake-up call for cops: Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011; I trust the police. But I don’t trust the old coroner’s inquest system.
City of Las Vegas gives raises during a recession: Friday, Dec. 9, 2011; Unlike many of my Fourth Estate pals, I try to give government the benefit of the doubt.
It’s boilerplate vs. ethics in federal races: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011; For months now, Democrats have been bludgeoning Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Joe Heck with familiar and tiresome rhetoric to frighten old people into voting for their opponents.
A modest proposal to fix the Legislature: Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011; Besides turning too many left-wingers into authoritative constitutional experts and serially obnoxious Cassandras, a conservative think tank’s lawsuit to clarify the separation-of-powers clause might actually have one salutary effect: Spark a real debate about curing the disease known as the Nevada Legislature.
NPRI has political motive, but is right on the law: Friday, Dec. 2, 2011; On its face, the Nevada Policy Research Institute lawsuit against state Sen. Mo Denis and the state is ludicrous.
Nevada’s Godfather fixes the primaries: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011; Film buffs will recall the terror with which the young Vito Corleone’s friends talked of The Black Hand, an invisible but palpable organization whose wrath was universally feared.
What some will give thanks for: Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011; If you could only listen in Thursday as some of the state’s elite give thanks before the tryptophan kicks them out, where would their gratitude be directed?
Judge to reporter: Don’t cover story and I’ll be nice: Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011; How do you know when a judge is threatening you?
Shaking loose a few odds and ends: Friday, Nov. 18, 2011; Emptying out the ol’ reporter’s notebook with your Friday Flash, including some accounting for gamers in federal politics and Rick Perry’s short, unhappy Nevada campaign life.
The plan is there, so what about some action?: Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011; Confession: I find it hard to be optimistic about the state’s future.
What might Kihuen and Titus say?: Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011; Welcome to the first of our series of debates in Congressional District One where a white woman, Dina Titus, is running against a Hispanic man, Ruben Kihuen.
Lawyers opt for character attacks over facts: Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011; That lawyers can act in abhorrent ways is about as newsworthy as the declaration that Herman Cain may be developing problems with the female GOP base.
State GOP fumbles away advantage: Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011; Only two months ago, Nevada Republicans were seeing red — in a good way.
Titus-Kihuen congressional race will be ugly: Friday, Nov. 4, 2011; If Dina Titus’ cellphone rings on the Ides of March, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear her say, “Et tu, Mr. President?”
More to DA’s departure than meets the eye: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011; Let’s stipulate: David Roger has a fine reputation as district attorney, embodied the hackneyed “straight shooter” to many and, like almost all in his job, inevitably was seen as too cozy with the police.
What happened to Obama in Vegas: Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011; I would love to know what went through President Barack Obama’s mind as he came to the door of Air Force One on Monday morning and looked down at the McCarran International Airport tarmac.
Arberry case reinforces double standards: Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011; The state of Nevada has sanctioned killing black bears, but Moose hunting is still banned.
State Republicans embarrass Nevada: Friday, Oct. 21, 2011; Nevada, the Battle Born State that prides itself on a combative, Western attitude toward a sometimes-overbearing federal government, is about to surrender to a miniature, Eastern monarchy.
GOP loved special masters – until they acted: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011; The release’s headline was unambiguous: “Hutchison and GOP Back Special Masters.”
Meeting of the special masters: Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011; The special masters convene to draw Nevada’s new congressional and legislative maps in the back room at Adele’s in Carson City.
Time to start a new tradition: Friday, Oct. 14, 2011; For a guy who says he knows nothing about poker, Bill Gardner sure can bluff.
End of the redistricting mess is nigh?: Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011; Pick your poison: Special masters or special session?
When a raise saves money but not credibility: Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011; This is the kind of blood-boiling story that should infuriate liberals and conservatives alike:
If there’s no special session, high court should step in: Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011; What do you call a place where the secretary of state tells the Supreme Court that a lower court judge isn’t doing his job on the most important political question of the decade — two weeks after the chief justice sent a nearly identical message to the jurist?
A son, a mentor’s son and a U.S. senator: Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011; Rarely could an application process for a city attorney position rise to Shakespearean levels, but this one does.
Sandoval accepts money from D.C. that Republicans opposed: Friday, Sept. 30, 2011; Isn’t it a shame when putative principles crash into stark reality?
Inmates prepare to take over GOP asylum: Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011; Republicans in Nevada have a lot to smile about these days.
How a Gang of 63 cedes authority to Gang of 3: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011; Imagine that the Nevada Constitution mandated the Legislature consummate an act that will have more impact on the state’s political future than any other.
You can’t transplant the facts: Friday, Sept. 23, 2011; While the Democrats shamelessly employ oily techniques to distract from Rep. Shelley Berkley’s troubles and the Republicans disingenuously try to make her the second unethical coming of, well, John Ensign, let’s not let partisanship get in the way of the real story.
Can Sandoval’s numbers stay up?: Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011; Gravity is an unstoppable force, whether in physics or politics.
Murder on the Nevada Express: Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011; Friday’s news of Nevada’s rising unemployment rate, which is both misleading and depressing, brought the predictable reactions from the state’s political elite in D.C.
No lessons emerge from not-so-special election: Friday, Sept. 16, 2011; President Barack Obama should not bother coming to Nevada. Rep. Shelley Berkley might as well start drafting her concession speech now.
Berkley discloses conflict, but not smoothly: Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011; Welcome to the dichotomy that is this story — the question of when pushing hard for what you say you believe in intersects with what you cannot deny is your private interest.