Crowded Nevada GOP Primary Goes Even Further to the Right as Dean Heller and Joe Lombardo Fail to Clear the Field

Just when it seemed like the Nevada GOP gubernatorial primary couldn’t get more crowded and extreme, Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore has decided to jump in the race. Fiore’s candidacy is sure to stir up chaos and drag all other candidates further to the right.

The new addition to the field comes as assumed frontrunners Dean Heller and Joe Lombardo continue to disappoint the GOP base and fail to consolidate support. In her launch video, Fiore hit the rest of the GOP field as “the same old boring, moderate, compromise, blue blazer politicians.” Even Republican Congressman Mark Amodei isn’t impressed, slamming the current field, saying, “nobody has taken all of the air out of the room” and that he’s “not taken with the field so far.” With pointed criticism like that, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Amodei himself jumped in, pushing this cozy six-candidate-primary up to seven.

Meanwhile, all six Republican primary candidates are desperate to appease Trump and his far-right base — Heller and Lombardo spout Trump’s ‘Big Lie,’ Mayor John Lee has promised to “follow the Trump agenda,” and new candidate Fiore has said Trump is “absolutely” a positive force in the party.

Fiore is also the subject of an FBI investigation, which has added fuel to “the Nevada GOP’s self-started brushfire.” Fiore is just one more person to overcrowd the field and drag the race to the right.

“The constant inflow of new far-right candidates proves that Dean Heller and Joe Lombardo have utterly failed to consolidate their base’s support in the Nevada GOP civil war,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “This primary will be brutal and expensive, and the eventual Republican nominee will not be able to distance themselves from extreme rhetoric and unpopular policies.”

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