Las Vegas Weekly

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Much is being made about how Brian Sandoval is the first Latino governor of Nevada. We suppose some of the hype is justified; after all, he did beat opponent Rory Reid soundly, despite claims from his opponent that he was out of touch with Nevada’s Latino community. And while the same Latinos who helped Harry Reid beat Sharron Angle didn’t show the same love to Sandoval (he got only 33 percent of the Latino vote compared to Reid’s 68 percent), they didn’t hurt him either. So Sandoval, who supports Arizona’s anti-illegal-immigration law, now finds himself in the interesting position of being a right-wing-agenda-supporting conservative who’s also a proud poster boy for diversity. But lost in all this hoopla about race is one glaring, depressing color—red. Namely, a $3 billion shortfall for the 2011-2013 budget. And while we’re all about diversity, Sandoval is sounding a lot like our least-favorite white guy in Nevada, Jim Gibbons. No new taxes? Rolling spending back to 2007 levels? And at the same time claiming he’ll preserve teaching jobs and social services? Brian, no one’s going to remember you as the first Latino governor of Nevada; they’ll just remember you as the guy who made Gibbons look sane. Don’t be that guy, Brian. Do what’s necessary to give us a fighting chance at survival.