LaDon Henry's Nevada Legislative Bid Falls Short

I wrote a post back in April in which I talked about Ladon Henry's attempt to become the first ever trans state legislator in Nevada and the first ever trans masculine one in any state legislature..

He was seeking the District 42 state assembly seat, which is in the Las Vegas area and a undeniably blue one with a 2-1 Democratic registration advantage. 

Henry and the other candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination in this district were seeking to replace retiring Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams (D) who declined to seek a fourth two year term.  The winner of the primary would become the next representative of this district because no Republican filed to run for it.

The Nevada primary election was held on June 12, and unfortunately Henry didn't win.   Alexander Assefa captured 55.32% of the vote (1399)  to become the next District 42 representative with Kathleen Lauckner getting 34.12%  (863) of the cast ballots.

Henry did get a respectable 10.52 % (267) of the ballots cast in this race, but I'm sure he'll tell you he would have rather won this race.

Will he run again two years from now?   That's a question only Henry can answer.   

A Black Trans Man Is Running For The Nevada State Assembly!

The breakthrough victories of Councilmembers Phillipe Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins in Minneapolis last year have given hope to other Black trans people who have contemplated running for public office they can also successfully run for office and win.

Now comes word that LaDon Henry is seeking to become the first trans masculine person elected to the state legislature in Nevada. 

We have already had a trans feminine person in Nevada attempt to run and win a legislative seat in that state.  Lauren Scott made three runs at a Reno area Nevada legislative seat as a Republican. and became in 2014 the first trans candidate in Nevada to win a party primary.   She was defeated in her last two attempts in the 2014 and 2016 general election cycles to win the District 30 seat.

The 41 year old Army veteran, husband of Shalonda, small business owner and radio host was like many trans people running for office.   Henry was motivated by Trump getting elected president and his well founded fears of what 45 would do to roll back TBLGQ legislative protections.

The first time candidate is running for the District 42 seat in the Las Vegas metro area being vacated by Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams (D), who decided not to seek reelection to a fourth term .

The Clark County district has a 2-1 Democratic registration advantage, and Henry has two challengers in his District 42 Democratic primary in Alexander Aseefa and Kathleen Lauckner

Henry, true to his 'No Voice Left Unheard' campaign slogan,  has stated if he wins, he'll focus on improving Nevada's education system, diversifying the economy, and fighting for underrepresented communities like ex-prisoners, at risk youth and immigrants.

"It wasn't just me being transgender that made me want to run.  There are so many different marginalized communities right now that don't feel like citizens,"said Henry.

Because no Republican filed to run in District 42, the winner of the June 12 primary will become the successor to the retiring Assemblywoman Adams

Henry would also be if he is successful, not only the first out trans person elected to the Nevada state legislature, he would be the first Black trans masculine state legislator.

As of right now Henry hasn't been endorsed by the Nevada Democratic Party or any other political groups, but that may change as we get closer to the June 12 Nevada Primary

Here's hoping that Henry makes history and becomes another Black trans elected official!
 

Leaving On A Jet Plane To- Las Vegas

My first trip outside of Texas in 2018 is also to a place that I'm visiting for the first time in Las Vegas, Nevada.   It also comes with a large slice of deja vu attached to it.

I get to travel out of IAH on United.   I get to not only see my former coworkers who haven't retired yet, I also get to walk through Terminal C and E exactly one week after my transiversary. 

When I made my first trip to Portland, Oregon back in 1996, we hadn't started non-stop trips to PDX yet, so I had the options of either flying to Las Vegas, Phoenix or San Francisco on Continental, then fly an America West flight up there from whichever of those airports I chose up to PDX and back and back.   We has a code share and pass agreement with America West at the time, so it wasn't going to cost me more than the standard pass charges no matter which way I went.

I decided to go through Las Vegas.   I had a 45 minute layover, and I knew about the slot machines in the McCarran International terminal waiting to relieve you of more cash.   I had every intention of sitting there, exercising my Taurean willpower and resisting the temptation to play until my flight boarded.

That only lasted 10 minutes, so I ended up playing one of the nearby quarter slot machines.   

$1.75 of playing later I hit it for $25 dollars just as it was time for me to board my America West flight to Portland, so I was forced to grab my money and go. 

My luck was even better on the America West flight.  The head flight attendant on this trip was one I helped non- rev on one of my CAL flights two weeks earlier.   She raved to her crewmates about the service I'd provided for her at my gate, and was determined to return the favor.  Her America West crew spoiled me rotten on that flight to Portland even though I was in the back with a row to myself.   
On the way back to IAH I had a much longer layover in Vegas for my Continental redeye back to Houston, so once again I killed some time by playing the airport quarter slot machines.   

It only took me only $1.25 of play this time to hit for a $15 payday.  I immediately quit while I was ahead of the game and took my winnings to grab something to eat in the airport food court before it was time to board my plane back home. 

It took 21 years, but this time I get to leave the airport and stay in the city for the first time.  It had always been on my domestic trip bucket list, but never got the opportunity to take it as an employee.

Now I get to go to Vegas for a multiday training and also stay in a hotel on the famed Las Vegas Strip.  I also have two cousins who live there that hopefully I'll get some quality time with before I have to come back to Texas on Sunday

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See y'all in a few hours Las Vegas,       

It's A Debate Sweep For Clinton

The final debate was in Las Vegas last night, and once again it was another win for President Secretary Hillary Clinton in which she decisively spanked that behind once again.

Trump came out swinging, but once again proved once again he didn't have the stamina or command of policy to hang with Clinton

And when Trump didn't have an answer to a policy question, he did what he always does: lie, deflect and stall to avoid answering it, and when that didn't work, launched false attacks of Clinton

But the comment that is probably going to sink his campaign for good is not emphatically stating he wouldn't accept the election results  if when he loses

Secretary Clinton talked about this on her campaign plane.



Once again the polls have spoken and backed up what I observed by overwhelmingly stating she won.   I agree.  Another win for Secretary Clinton

Hopefully the debate sweep results in an resounding electoral college win on November 8

Last Clinton-Trump Debate Tonight

Live from the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus later tonight, it's the final 2016 presidential debate between Sec. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The 90 minute live debate will be once again broadcast with no commercial interruption on twelve broadcast and cable networks  

The first two debates at Hofstra and Washington University were resounding Clinton wins, and the unforced errors by Trump didn't hurt.

She goes into this one seeking to not only sweep the debates but in this battleground state throw the knockout punch in a critical presidential race that is increasingly trending in her favor and in which much of the country is already early voting in advance of November 8.

And I'll be doing so when early voting starts on October 24 in Texas, in which a Democrat has their best chance of winning this state since 1976 when Jimmy Carter carried the Lone Star State.

The debate is scheduled to cover in the six 15 minute segments Debt and Entitlements, Immigration, The economy, the Supreme Court, Foreign hot spots, and fitness to be president

What I'm skeptical about for this final debate is how much policy will be discussed.

What I am skeptical of is the moderator will be Chris Wallace from FOX Noise.  It will be the first time someone from FOX has been tapped to moderate a debate, and he raised some eyebrows when he said his job wasn't to fact check the candidates, then quickly recanted on that.

He also has a troubling history of making sexist comments and remarks himself.

And I disagree.  Part of your job as moderator when one candidate has a demonstrated history of non-stop lying is to call lies out, and lets see how well Wallace does in doing so and keeping things moving.

It will also be interesting to see later tonight what shenanigans Trump pulls this time in an attempt to psyche out Clinton/

They rumble, er debate starting at 8 PM CDT.
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2016 Presidential Debate Schedule

After Labor Day passes, we will be in the critical homestretch phase of the 2016 presidential campaign.  Many folks who have been either casually following it or tuned it our completely, will with the November 8 election day looming on the horizon, start paying attention to the election and the candidates.

The presidential and vice presidential debates organized by the nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates will be one of the ways that still undecided voters get the information that will help them decide who will be taking the oath of office to become our 45th president on January 20.

There will be three presidential debates between Democratic nominee Sec. Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump and one vice presidential debate between Sen Tim Kaine (D) and Gov. Mike Pence (R).

As for third party candidates, they will have to meet certain predetermined criteria as set out by the CPD before they will be allowed to participate.

The debates will last 90 minutes, and moderators will be selected soon. We already know the debate sites and formats, and here they are.

The first debate between Clinton and Trump is scheduled to take place on September 26 on the Hofstra University campus in Hempstead, NY.

That will be followed by the only vice presidential debate on October 4 on the Longwood University campus in Farmville, VA.

The second presidential debate will take place October 9 on the Washington University campus in St Louis, and will be a town hall format.

The final presidential debate will take place on October 19 on the University of Nevada- Las Vegas campus in Las Vegas, NV

The designated backup site for the 2016 presidential debates is Belmont University in Nashville, TN.

One thing I do hope the the CPD does take into consideration is to have someone other than white male or female journalists as debate moderators.  There are plenty of non-white journalists who can handle debate moderation, and it's past time that Black and Latino journalists had the opportunity to do so.

The last Black person to moderate a presidential debate was Carole Simpson back in 1992.  Yes Gwen Ifill has moderated two debates in 2004 and 2008, but they were vice presidential ones.

It is past time to give a non white journalist the opportunity to moderate a presidential debate, and that needs to happen this year.

Tamron Hall Calls Out The Berner NV Bad Behavior

One of the many reasons I love my Texas homegirl Tamron Hall is because she's a no BS journalist who doesn't let peeps on either side of the political spectrum weasel out of tough questions.

Here's the recent interview in which she asks some tough question of Sanders surrogate Nina Turner in the wake of the Green Tea Partiers showed their nekulturny selves during last weekend's Nevada Democratic meeting

Watch as Tamron doesn't allow Turner to spin her way out of the mess the Benrers made in Nevada.

Enjoy.

 

Hillary Wins In Nevada!

Today's Nevada Democratic Caucus had much riding on them for both sides in this 2016 Democratic presidential nomination race.  While Sen. Bernie Sanders was coming off a huge double digit win in New Hampshire and had some momentum going in, he still hadn't proved yet that he can get non-white Democrats to #FeelTheBern.

Nevada would offer him and his supporters their first chance to prove that he could win in a state that wasn't overwhelmingly white.  Nevada has a 27% Latinx and 13% African-American population largely concentrated in Las Vegas and Reno.

Meanwhile Secretary Clinton was looking to rebound from the New Hampshire thumping.

After spending several months organizing in Nevada, she and her campaign team were cautiously optimistic they could pull out a much needed win in the Silver State.

But the Sanders campaign spent heavily to match her organization here and air commercials in local media.   They also trumpeted media polls they were running even with Clinton in the runup to today's caucus.

But when the dust settled, it was Clinton's support with non-white voters and her ground game that carried the day.  Clinton got 52.6% of the caucus attendees to say #ImWithHer with just 47.3% going to Sanders.   It was a critical win to calm the nerves of her supporters going into Saturday's South Carolina Democratic Primary and with Super Tuesday looming on March 1.





What is more ominous for Sanders supporters is that African-American voters, who only make up about 13% of the Nevada electorate are feeling Hillary.  They broke 76%-22% for Clinton and she rolled to wins in six of the state's majority Black precincts.  Nevada's Latinx voters also broke for Clinton.

And South Carolina comes up fast this Saturday along with the Super Tuesday primaries on March 1 in which many of the Southern states involved, including Texas which is in early voting now, have large percentages of non-white voters.

We will see what transpires in South Carolina, especially in light of the fact that more superdelegates and party leaders are declaring for Clinton including Rep. James Clyburn. (D-SC) and Clinton picked up more endorsements here in Texas, where 222 delegates are at stake.  

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Nevada Unjust Anti-Trans Bill Dies!

AB 375 the GOP dominated Nevada legislature's attempt to attack trans kids failed Monday night on a mainly party line vote.

Five Republicans, Pat Hickey, Derek Armstrong, Glenn Trowbridge, Robin Titus and Melissa Woodbury voted with the all the Nevada Assembly Democrats to kill the unjust bill on a 22-20 vote.

The transphobic measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Ira Hansen (R)  would have required students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that corresponded to their genitalia, as well as require schools to provide separate facilities for transgender and intersex students.

Opponents said the bill would lead to additional bullying and targeting of trans students in Nevada schools.

"This bill flies in the face of everything this Legislature should stand for, and it harkens back to a time when telling people they were different was accepted," Democratic Assemblywoman Heidi Swank said.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) spokeswoman Mari St. Martin said earlier that the governor was closely monitoring the bill and had strong concerns with legislation that "targets students based on their gender expression, or potentially sanctions discrimination."

Tuesday was the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin, so that means AB 375 is dead for this session.  

But as you know, vanillacentric privileged GOP oppressor never give up when it comes to exercising their oppressor gene, and he wishes to try to make this issue a ballot initiative or tlke it to the local level.

So great work Nevada trans community and allies.   Celebrate your win, and prepare for the next round.

Not Supporting Lauren Scott Or ANY Trans Republican

In the wake of me writing about Paula Sophia being poised to make trans history and possibly get elected to the Oklahoma Legislature on August 26 if she prevails in her runoff election, I had a Republican leaning trans person contact me and ask why I hadn't written a similar post about Lauren Scott's candidacy in Nevada. 

As I wrote in this 2010 post, and will expand on it as we head to the 2014 midterms, the right trans candidate for public office at any level of government is NOT a right-wing one. 

As far as I and other non-white voters are concerned, the Republican Party is nothing more than the political arm of white supremacy, and they gleefully make that clear to us every day. 

If you're a libertarian, we non-white peeps don't have much love for you either because all we see you as is the flip side to the same white supremacist political coin.

It's also laughable to me when we have daily examples of Republican politicians at ALL levels of government being bigoted, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, (fill in the blank) that ANY politically savvy and thoughtful trans person would want to join, much less be a member of a party that oppresses them and their trans brothers and sisters.

At first glance Ms. Scott's record is one that would make you gravitate toward supporting her legislative candidacy.  She's an Air Force Desert Storm vet, small business owner, has participated in an NCTE sponsored lobby day in 2007, is the founding Executive Director of Equality Nevada since 2009, was appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) to sit on the Nevada Equal Rights Commission until her term expires October 31 and unsuccessfully ran for an open Nevada Assembly seat in 2012.

While I commend Ms Scott for stepping up to run for office, it's the choice of party affiliation that is raising red flags with me and other big picture thinking trans people.  When the Nevada Assembly currently has a 26-15 Democratic majority and the Nevada Senate a precarious 11-10 Democratic majority, why in Hades would you run for office in that party? 

Granted, you are running for the Nevada Assembly seat in District 30 currently occupied by incumbent Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle (D) that you didn't make it out of the primary fr in 2012.  

But should you make history and win that race, it puts the Republicans one seat closer to gaining control of the Nevada Assembly and possibly unleashing the flood of batturd crazy racist legislation that is the sadly all too common result of GOP control of a state legislature.

That hasn't happened in Nevada only because of Democratic control of both legislative chambers. 

Yes, I have repeatedly said that the next level of our trans human rights struggle is to actually get our people elected to public office.  And yes, it is important to have our folks involved in both political parties.

But let's be real about the fact that in this 2014 cycle, in many parts of the country the Republicans are nothing more than neo-Confederate anti-government trans oppressors, and any trans person in those GOP ranks is wasting their time. 

Nevada's GOP might be different, but after seeing Sharron Angle's 2010 US Senate campaign, Cliven Bundy tripping, and the damage that conservatism does when they get control of a state (or national) legislature, I would hate for Nevada voters to find out the hard way their Republicans are just as off the chain as the Arizona and Texas GOP.     

So no, I'm not voting for or supporting ANY transperson who is a member of the Republican Party, because as a trans person of color, neither I or my people can afford to have that trans GOP legislator, no matter how moderate they may seem at first glance, be the one vote that gets the Republican Party closer to or actually tips the balance of legislative control of a House or Senate chamber.