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Former senator Harry Reid's political machine long dominated Nevada Democratic politics. That is, until supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pulled off a hostile takeover in 2021. In March of that year, Judith Whitmer was elected chair of the Nevada Democratic Party along with a new slate of party leaders, all of them associated with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Upon their election, the entire party staff resigned. It's been downhill ever since.
Even Sanders himself is unhappy with the results of the coup. Sanders was hoping for the Nevada party to showcase what a progressive party could stand for and do. Instead, there has been wall-to-wall infighting and backbiting. More importantly, the proof is in the pudding, and the election results have been less than spectacular. Former governor Steve Sisolak (D) was defeated for reelection in 2022—the only incumbent governor in the country to lose reelection.
Peter Koltak, a senior adviser for Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, said: "Look, there's a lot of well-meaning activists involved there, but they don't understand the ins and outs of how you build modern campaigns." Whitmer has also made a number of promises she has not kept.
The problems with the state party are not entirely Whitmer's fault, though. For example, just before Whitmer took over, party officials transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state party's bank account to the DSCC's. That might have helped Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) get reelected in 2022, which is not a bad thing for Nevada Democrats, but it also meant that the new party leaders had no money when they took over. Also, when the entire staff quit, they didn't just look for new jobs somewhere, they took over the machinery of the state's second most-populous county and tried to oppose Whitmer from there. Whitmer noticed. She said: "The previous administration pretty much burnt the house down."
But her critics, including progressives, say that Whitmer is a poor fundraiser, has bad relationships with elected Democratic officials, and failed to build the grassroots infrastructure she promised to build. They also condemned her decision to support a primary challenger to the sitting Democratic lieutenant governor.
Another battle was with progressives whose true loyalty is to the DSA, not to the Democratic Party. They wanted her to work outside the system, but she said: "I represent the Democratic Party. I don't represent the DSA." This caused friction with the left. Whitmer's term is up in March and she will have to fight like hell to keep her job. Even then, she will probably not be successful. (V)