Voter Guide: 2022 Primary Election

Primary Election Philosophy: Every Vote Must Be Earned

In a primary election, voters have more opportunity to vote for who they truly believe in, as opposed to a general election where many of us feel forced to pick the least-harmful candidate.

The bourgeois Democrats will encourage you to vote for the “safest” pick, which was the same argument that they used during the 2020 presidential election. But we understand that what is “safest” for the Democratic establishment to do is to maintain the status quo. This means re-electing candidates who will continue to ignore a plethora of issues, including the climate crisis, rising rent and home prices, ongoing police violence, and a pandemic that disproportionately affected people of color. We do not believe that these Democrats have earned our votes.

This Voter Guide is designed to educate voters about the people who hold elected office, and to describe the kind of standard that we believe the working class should expect from our elected officials. We assessed the policy positions and financial history of nearly every candidate running to represent residents of Clark County. We prioritized recommending candidates who did not receive endorsements or funding from police unions, land developers, mining companies, or other major corporations that use their money to buy policies that are favorable for them but harmful for the rest of us. We were also honest about whether or not candidates actually had an opportunity to win and make a meaningful impact in our community.

“No recommendation” means that we do not have a specific candidate that we believe stands out above the others. On the other hand, the recommendation of voting for “None of these candidates” means that we suggest bubbling in that option on your ballot. This voting option is unique to Nevada statewide elections, and we use it in instances when we feel that the candidates available are not suitable for a vote.

LVDSA treats recommendations differently than endorsements. When we endorse a candidate, we commit a significant portion of our chapter resources to fight to get that candidate elected. Although multiple candidates sought our endorsement in 2022, none of them qualified. The recommendations in this guide are intended solely to help educate voters about their choices, and are based on the specific circumstances of each race. We did not consult with any candidates about their inclusion in this guide.

We hope that this guide helps you understand more about the people running for office, and demonstrates that we need more candidates who come from and represent the working class.

Note: this guide was updated on 5/31/22 to reflect additional information about Pat Spearman, James Ohrenschall, and Fabian Donate. State Senate District 10 changed to “No Recommendation.”