Here’s the soft copy of the draft of the revised North Valley Democratic Club’s bylaws. They more closely align with the bylaws of the State and County parties. We’ve re-arranged some of the officer positions and add two new at-large board positions – one from North Las Vegas and one from Las Vegas/Unincorporated Clark County to ensure each side of Decatur has representation on our e-board.

This will be our first order of business at our March meeting. Immediately following will be officer elections.

Bylaws – 2012 Revisions Draft Presented to Membership

Thank you all for agreeing to express our concerns with the direction of the state Senate Democratic Caucus. The E-Board made the requested changes and sent it to all 11 Democratic State Senators on Friday afternoon. In addition, it was sent to the County Party’s e-board along with the other leaders of the County Party-chartered Clubs and Caucuses.

It appears that someone forwarded it to Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun. While it was not our intention that the local media pick this up, we still stand by our statement and look forward to a response from our Democratic State Senators.

Here’s a link to the Ralston Blog Post – http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/ralstons-flash/2012/jan/21/democratic-activists-citing-weak-fundraising-call-/

Thank you for all that you do!

Hey all,

A lot of candidates are making last-ditch appeals for funds as the year comes to an end so they can report strong numbers headed into the new year. I’ll update the list as I get more requests:

US Senate:

Whether Sen. Harry Reid stays as Senate Majority Leader could come down to the race in Nevada. Everyone’s favorite Congresswoman Shelley Berkley will need your help. She accepts donations at https://secure.shelleyberkley.com/page/contribute/WEBcontrib

Congressional District 1:

State Sen. Ruben Kihuen is making a last minute push. You can donate at https://secure.blueutopia.com/rubenforcongress/contribute/

Former Congresswoman Dina Titus has asking to finish the year strong. You can donate at http://dinatitus.com and select Contribute.

Congressional District 4:

State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford is accepting donations at http://stevenhorsford.com and select Contribute.

Assembly District 9:

Charter Member Andrew Martin is running for Assembly District 9. It has a 8 point registration advantage, so it should be winnable. He’s asking that people donate in amounts ending in a 9, for Assembly District 9 (think, $49, $99, $149). You can donate at http://fundly.com/andrewmartinfornevada

As Assemblywoman Kirkpatrick mentioned at our meeting, today there was a hearing in State District Court. Judge Russell ruled on the maps from the Special Masters.

He accepted the Congressional District Maps as proposed by the Special Masters.

Congressional Districts:

Statewide
Las Vegas Detail

State Senate Districts:

Statewide
Las Vegas Detail 

State Assembly Districts:

Statewide
Las Vegas Detail

Judge Russell is expected to sign the order on Monday. Unless there are appeals, the State Supreme Court intervenes or there are other lawsuits, here’s the run down for our membership.

Our Congressional District will be CD-04. It has a 7 percent Democratic advantage, with 16 percent Non-Partisan voters. The district includes all of North Las Vegas, Nellis Air Force Base, And most of the Valley north of roughly Lake Mead Blvd. It stretches north to include Esmerelda, Lincoln, Nye, Mineral, White Pine and part of Lyon counties. We’ll see how the declared Democratic candidates line up, but I suspect that State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford and State Senator John Lee will face off in the Democratic primary. No Republican has announced yet.

In terms of state Senate Districts, our membership would be divided between Senate Districts 1 and 18 (a new District moved down from the North.) SD1 is currently held by State Senator John Lee. Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson has announced that he’s running for State Senate, and he lives in the new boundaries. The district has a 21 percent Democratic registration advantage with Non-Partisans making up 17 percent of the voters.

Senate District 18 is an open seat, as it has been moved down from Washoe County. No one has announced for the seat as of yet. It’s nearly even in voter registration, with 39.19 percent Democrats, 39.15 percent Republicans and 16.16 percent Non-Partisans.

In the Assembly, our area will be divided between ADs 1 and 17 for our North Las Vegas Members, while our Las Vegas members will be divided between ADs 13 and 4. AD17 will be open, with Assemblyman Atkinson giving up his seat to run for the State Senate. AD17 has a 25 point Democratic advantage. AD1 is held by Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick. It has a 17 percent Democratic registration advantage.

For our Las Vegas members, things are a little more competitive. For those remaining in AD13, held by Republican Scott Hammond, the registration numbers are pretty evenly split. It has the slightest Republican advantage, with 39.96 percent of the district compared to the Democrats making up 38.77 percent of registered voters. It’s flipped in AD4, currently held by Republican Richard McArthur. Democrats make up a slight plurality with 39.9 percent of register voters compared to 38.36 percent of the voters registered Republican.

Again, Judge Russell is expected to issue his written order Monday. Pending any further litigation, these are the maps that will hold. We need to elect 7 Democrats to fill those seats. That will help return Democrats to the majority US House of Representatives, and get us veto-proof majorities in the State Legislature so that we can start putting Nevada on solid footing going forward.