Nevada Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno won the Democratic Party chair election, ousting incumbent chair Judith Whitmer, and ushering in a new direction of "unity" for the party.
Monroe-Moreno and her "unity" slate of candidates, called the Nevada Democratic Victory, defeated the competing slate of candidates led by Whitmer. She won the chairmanship 314 to 99, a signal that Democrats are ready to move beyond Whitmer's leadership ahead of key races in both the Senate and White House in 2024.
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The new chair said that "2024 is far too important, and the division within our party had to come to an end.”
“It wasn't going to do anyone any good,” she said to reporters after her victory, per the Nevada Independent. “The 2022 election cycle was difficult. We won a lot of seats, but we did it with division, and we can’t continue to do that. So I ran so we can bring the family, the Democratic family, back together.”
Party staffers and consultants quit the party after Whitmer and several other democratic socialists gained leadership positions in 2021 and formed the new Nevada Democratic Victory organization within the Washoe County Democratic Party.
Democrats have criticized the direction of the party under Whitmer, including accusing her of removing access to a key voter information database, which the former chair has denied. Whitmer also endorsed a challenger to former Gov. Steve Sisolak's appointed lieutenant governor in the 2022 primary and awarded six-figure party contracts to personal allies, per the Nevada Independent.
However, Whitmer has defended her time as state party chair, touting her role in moving Nevada to second on the presidential primary calendar.
The weeks leading up to the Nevada party chair election were filled with more accusations from Whitmer's opponents, who said she purged over 230 members from the state central committee — something Whitmer denied, alleging that the removals were based upon mandatory meeting attendance. Among the members were Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen.
A letter, signed by 40 members of the committee, also raised concerns over state party officials using state party resources to promote Whitmer's reelection bid, something they believe is "a blatant conflict of interest."
NEW: Ahead of NV Dems state party elections next month, 230+ people were removed from the party's central committee last week, including several elected lawmakers.
— Jacob Solis (@jacobsolisnv) February 11, 2023
That, via a letter sent yesterday signed by 40 central committee members raising concerns to Chair Judith Whitmer pic.twitter.com/VeeXKNTHwO
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Nevada proved to be a tough battleground state in the 2022 midterm election. A victory from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D), who won with less than 1% of the vote, allowed Democrats to maintain a slight majority in the Senate. She defeated Republican Adam Laxalt, the state's former attorney general who was backed by former President Donald Trump. However, Sisolak lost his race by 1.5 percentage points.
With 33 seats up for election in 2024, 23 held by Democrats, Monroe-Moreno's win is a signal that Nevada Democrats are gearing up for another tough reelection battle.