Ballot Battleground: Nevada KRNV

It's mail time at Ballot Battleground: Nevada. We put out a call for listener questions recently and received plenty. News 4-Fox 11 morning show anchor and political expert Chris Murphy joins this week to go through the mailbag with host Ben Margiott. They answered questions about a nonpartisan running in Congressional District 2, Yucca Mountain, abortion on the ballot, whether campaign signs work and much more.
Submit your questions for future mailbag episodes by emailing bjmargiott@sbgtv.com or by tagging Ben on social media.
LA Times story on Yucca Mountain: Nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain could roil Nevada U.S. Senate race
Search Engine podcast on campaign signs: Do political yard signs actually do anything?

After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, there's been a state-by-state patchwork of differing abortion laws across the country. In Nevada, abortion is protected up to 24 weeks in state law after a 1990 referendum. But advocates want to make that protection even stronger by adding abortion rights to the Nevada Constitution. It appears their ballot question to enshrine that right is headed for the November ballot. Denise Lopez, director of Nevada campaigns for Reproductive Freedom for All, joins to explain the abortion landscape in the Silver State, why she feels a Constitutional amendment is necessary and answer a number of criticisms about the initiative petition.

Primary season is underway - if you haven't noticed all the campaign signs and ads in every commercial break. This week, host Ben Margiott previews the GOP primary for Nevada's 2nd Congressional district, which covers most of northern Nevada. With no Democrat running in this deep red district, the winner of the seat will likely be determined in the June primary. Rep. Mark Amodei, the incumbent since 2011, and Dr. Fred Simon sit down for extended interviews about why they're running, the national debt, foreign aid and whether they would continue to support former Pres. Trump if he's convicted before the election. Plus, an update on the controversial USPS plan to reroute northern Nevada mail through Sacramento after a Congressional oversight hearing with postmaster general Louis DeJoy this week and a viral moment from Sen. Jacky Rosen.

Should public money be used to help build the Oakland A's baseball team a new stadium in Las Vegas? The state's largest teachers union wants to ask voters that question in November. But like so many other proposed initiatives, it's been challenged and appealed up to the Nevada Supreme Court. This week, justices heard oral arguments about the proposed referendum. Host Ben Margiott takes listeners inside the courtroom and interviews Alexander Marks, director of strategy for the Nevada State Education Association, about their 'Schools Over Stadiums' push, the effort to get the referendum on the November ballot and their unlikely alliance with Oakland A's fans.

After Pres. Biden's visit to Reno last month, two top Biden cabinet members are in northern Nevada this week. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su stopped by the studio for a sit-down interview with host Ben Margiott about ongoing FAFSA issues, unemployment, the Baltimore bridge collapse and more. Plus, Nevada Current deputy editor April Corbin Girnus joins to preview some of the critical statehouse elections that will determine if Democrats are able to gain veto-proof supermajorities in Carson City or if Republicans can wrest back some power.
For more on Corbin Girnus' analysis of the statehouse elections, read her two recent pieces in the Nevada Current:
Can Lombardo break the Democrats’ Assembly supermajority? Here’s a look at the terrain.
Only 1 vote shy of a Nevada Senate supermajority, Democrats look to flip a seat (or more)

Question 3, which will be on the November ballot in Nevada, would make drastic changes to our electoral system, implementing two proposed reforms — open primaries and ranked-choice voting. If it were to pass again (after already passing in 2022), it would put those changes in the Nevada Constitution. Supporters say it would upend the two-party system as we know it but opponents worry it could lead to even more confusion. Before we explore the arguments for and against, we brought in the Guinn Center, Nevada's nonpartisan policy research center. The think tank just released a report explaining Question 3 and asking where Nevadans stand on the issues. Research director Mike Stewart and assistant director Kristine Caliger join the show to explain what Question 3 would do and what their research revealed.