VICTOR JOECKS: Democrats spurn Nevada over slow election results

Even Democrats don’t want to wait days to find out who won an election.

On Friday, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel recommended that South Carolina have its party’s first presidential primary. Assuming the DNC adopts this proposal, Nevada will be second with New Hampshire scheduled to go third. Nevada Democrats had lobbied aggressively to move Nevada to the top spot. Among other arguments, they highlighted Nevada’s racial diversity.

“In Nevada, candidates cannot rely on one constituency alone but must earn support from Latino, Black, AANHPI, Native American, and white working-class voters alike,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Rep. Steven Horsford wrote in a letter to the DNC committee.

South Carolina supporters argued that their state’s large proportion of black Democrats should give it the nod.

“If Nevada gets elevated over South Carolina, it would be because of their Latino vote,” Christale Spain, chair of the South Carolina Democrat Party, said. “So you would then be telling black voters that you matter less than brown voters. And I refuse to believe that our party wants to send any type of message like that.”

Hispanic voters, take note. By this logic, the Democrat Party thinks you matter less than black voters.

As both states played their respective race cards, Democrat deciders considered other factors — like how slowly Nevada counts ballots.

“If we’re not able to say on election night what the results were, that would be a challenge to our credibility,” Stuart Appelbaum said.

“Candidates, particularly candidates in early states, want to get those vote totals, spin those vote totals to their own advantage, and take some momentum to the next state,” Carol Fowler, a committee member from South Carolina, said.

These are valid concerns. In 2022, Nevada Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt was ahead after election night. His lead slowly dwindled as more ballots came in. The Associated Press didn’t declare Cortez Masto the winner until the Saturday after the election.

In 2024, Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown was winning after Election Day. His lead dwindled as more ballots came in. The Associated Press didn’t declare Sen. Jacky Rosen the winner until the Friday after the election.

Last year, Gov. Joe Lombardo sought to speed up Nevada’s ballot counting. Democrats weren’t interested. Oh the irony.

Leftists have long dismissed conservative complaints about slow ballot counting as sour grapes or conspiracy theories. But these DNC members aren’t secret Republicans. They’re pointing out what’s long been obvious to those not parroting talking points from Nevada Democrats. It is reasonable to expect election results to be known on election night.

The DNC knows this well. In 2020, technical problems delayed results of the Democrats’ Iowa caucus. It took several days to release complete results. It was an embarrassment for Democrats. A close Democrat presidential primary in Nevada would likely produce similar delays.

That should worry Nevada Democrats. Just because Nevada goes second in 2028 doesn’t mean it will maintain its early status in the future. That DNC committee just demoted Iowa. It now isn’t even among the first six states.

As it turns out, how quickly you tally election results has consequences.