Moms for Liberty-linked candidates win in school board races
Two candidates with ties to Moms for Liberty, a conservative group that has advocated for book bans and against policies that accommodate LGBTQ+ students, won their races on the Clark County School Board.
The growing conservative influence is part of significant turnover on a board where three trustees did not seek re-election. They’ll help shape the future of the Clark County School District (CCSD), which faces budgetary challenges and a superintendent search that is on hiatus until after the new trustees are sworn in.
Here’s a look at election results for Clark and Washoe county school boards, as well as the Nevada State Board of Education and the Board of Regents, which governs higher education.
Washoe County School Board
District G
Washoe County Trustee Diane Nicolet won in the District G race against tech businessman Perry Rosenstein. Nicolet beat Rosenstein by less than 2 percentage points, according to election results as of Nov. 13.
Nicolet was elected to the board in 2020. She’s a longtime educator who has worked in early education through higher education. Nicolet was supported by current and former school board members, including Trustee Colleen Westlake.
The at-large District G covers the western portion of Washoe County and includes Incline Village. Voters in geographical Districts A, C, D and E voted in the race.
District B
Former Moms for Liberty Clark County chapter member Lydia Dominguez has won in the school board’s District B race.
As of Nov. 13, Dominguez had a lead of about 12 percentage points over her opponent, Eileen Eady, a former teacher turned political consultant.
District B includes parts of the northwestern Las Vegas Valley, Indian Springs, Bunkerville and the Moapa area.
The seat was previously held by former Trustee Katie Williams, who resigned in September after an investigation found she was living out of state.
Last week, the school board voted to appoint Nakia Jackson-Hale to the seat for the remainder of Williams’ term, which ends in early January. Dominguez, who serves on the district’s Attendance Zone Advisory Committee, had applied for the position prior to the election.
District E
Former local Moms for Liberty chapter member Lorena Biassotti (Cardenas) has won the Clark County School Board District E race against Kamilah Bywaters, a former CCSD teacher and leader of a group advocating for Black students.
Results Nov. 13 showed Biassotti ahead by about 16 percentage points.
District E, which includes western parts of the Las Vegas Valley and Summerlin, is represented by Trustee Lola Brooks, who isn’t running for re-election.