In a huge victory for progressives and the culmination of years of grassroots organizing, a slate of progressive candidates just swept the elections for the Nevada Democratic Party’s five leadership positions.
In response, the entire staff of the Nevada Democratic Party quit.
And on their way out the door, they moved nearly half a million dollars from the state party’s campaign coffers to a national Senate campaign fund, while giving themselves generous severance payments. Every consultant severed their contract, and we don’t yet know what kind of money changed hands when that happened.
I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Establishment Democrats and their lobbyist and consultant allies want this story to quietly fade away, but we will not let that happen.
This story is developing rapidly, and we’re digging deep to uncover how it happened, what interests were behind it, where the money is going, and how the progressive-led Nevada Democratic Party in the state plans to forge ahead. The new regime will need investigative reporters keeping a close eye on them, too, to hold them accountable to the promises they’ve made.
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Nevada is one of the Democratic Party’s success stories in recent years. After voting Republican in 8 out of 10 presidential elections from 1968 to 2004, Nevada has now gone blue four times in a row while electing Democrats for governor and both U.S. Senate seats.
But the margins of these victories remain narrow. Last November, Joe Biden won with just 50.6% of the vote, and a competitive U.S. Senate election is coming up next year.
The organizing work of progressive Democrats, led by Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists of America, has played a role in shifting the state away from the Republican Party, so you wouldn’t think the staff of the Democratic Party would be looking to blow up the party from the inside.
It’s a stunning example of how much power entrenched interests have over the inner workings of the state party — and how far they will go to undermine progressives and protect their power.
The Intercept broke the news of the party staff walkout, and we intend to stay on this story as it continues to develop, shining a bright light on the corporate rot and corruption eroding the Democratic Party from within that threatens the integrity of our entire democracy.
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