Betraying the Base: Rogue GOP Faction Aims to Elect Democrats in Nevada... Again

AP Photo/John Locher, File

As Nevada’s Republican Party pushes to unify, a rogue faction has emerged with the goal of betraying the GOP base to elect Democrats. “Republicans for Ford” is a coalition of 13 Republicans refusing to back the GOP nominee, Sigal Chattah, in the state’s Attorney General race by throwing their support behind the Democrat incumbent Aaron Ford instead.

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Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford defended arbitrary pandemic church capacity limits, while firebrand attorney Sigal Chattah represented the churches in a lawsuit, winning a ruling that overturned the Governor’s executive order. Other Ford pandemic-related crackdowns included a focus on fake vaccine cards, even at a time when they weren’t required to access anything except free doughnuts at Dunkin.

In a statement, Sigal Chattah responded to the formation of the group saying,

“I am not interested in tax-hiking, teacher union lobbyists supporting me. These Republicans for Ford are simply Democrats who are using the Republican brand for whatever power they perceive they have and look to line their own pockets and elect Democrats.”

Among the turn-coats is former State Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, whose name is synonymous with taxation after passing the largest tax hike in state history during his tenure in 2015. In response, Nevada’s Republican voters ousted their so-called representatives, marking the end of GOP majorities and strongholds in the state… indefinitely. 

Other bandwagoners aboard the clown ship include a list of lobbyists, who I am branding #LobbyistsForFord. The unofficial leader of the betrayal brigade appears to be Amy Tarkanian, who once was a Republican Party Chair until she quit and Michael McDonald was elected to the seat, which he has held since 2012. Tarkanian has been mad at McDonald and the state party on Twitter ever since.

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For rank and file Republicans pretending any of this is new or even shocking is… rich. This party-line crossing didn’t start with the AG race. It didn’t even start with this election cycle. The feral group had already refused to support the GOP State Treasurer nominee, Michele Fiore, who serves on Las Vegas City Council and is the NV GOP National Committeewoman. This subversive behavior is a callback to a mutiny in 2010, when “Republicans for Reid” assisted in getting Democrat Senator Harry Reid re-elected. Reid was the US Senate Majority leader at the time securing passage of major Democratic bills including the Affordable Care Act.

Tarkanian’s disloyalties are now being celebrated in an LGBTQ Nation article authored by Sarah Ashton Cirillo. Cirillo, who is transgender, infiltrated the Republican base in the last election cycle as some sort of conspicuous Democrat plant.

Fun Fact: Cirillo wrote the exclusive article from a combat zone in Ukraine.

Tarkanian, a proclaimed Christian, heterosexual, wife, and mother is now being invited to speak at Log Cabin Republican events:

Why would turning your back on Republican nominees get you invited to Log Cabin Republican fundraisers? Is it simply because an LGBTQ community member who also betrayed the GOP wrote a story about Amy’s most recent treachery?

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Even amid inner-party squabbles ranging from disenfranchised grassroots supporters to the re-emergence of the tax-hikers campaigning for the Democrat status quo: the Republican base is not confused about whom they want as Attorney General. Chattah handily won her primary race by 11 points against last-minute challenger, Tisha Black.

Black’s campaign finances raised eyebrows, initially reported by political writer and consultant Chuck Muth. Black received multiple maxed-out donations from donors who previously donated to Ford and other Democrats, giving the appearance that Black was never running to unseat Ford, but to sandbag Chattah.

Incumbant AG Ford is now refusing to debate Chattah, stating he won’t even be in the same room with her.

“I am not standing in the room with her, I will not endeavor to have a conversation with her and I will certainly not be debating her.”

This is a strange thing to say when your job is to prosecute criminals– a requisite of the job is to be in the same room with people you otherwise wouldn’t want to be near. Ford’s refusals come after he called his Israeli-born opponent a racist, in response to Chattah’s private messages leaking saying Ford “should be hanging from a (f***ing) crane. He’s like the leader of (H)amas — making tons of money while the People in Gaza are starving.” It was reported that Chattah was envoking an Israeli curse and is known to use this phrase non-literally in her vernacular. To nobody’s surprise, the leak came from Sarah Ashton Cirillo. This message was one among thousands exchanged during the prior election cycle where Cirillo posed as a friend and political ally to Republican women.

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A pattern emerges: Fake Republicans work against the party, feeding their insatiable need for attention, riding Democrat coattails into power brokering … and somehow landing interviews & invitations to reward their numbingly commonplace backstabbing.

As for Chattah, she is always on-brand and pushing back against opponents:

“The Tarkanians have plowed through all four congressional districts in Nevada, and lost every time. They aren’t exactly a political success story. I have never denied any election, but Roberson can’t deny that he is a shill for the teacher’s unions. When an AG candidate starts talking about indictments and grand juries, a lot of people will support the status quo that protects them.”

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