North Las Vegas mayor talks politics in Gardnerville

One of the people being touted as potentially running for governor of Nevada was in Gardnerville on Friday as part of a statewide tour.

North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee sat down with The Record-Courier on Friday afternoon after speaking at the Douglas County Republican Headquarters.

“Not yet,” he replied when asked if he was running for governor. “I don’t think you can join a party and then say, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m running for elected office. You need to be welcomed in.”

Lee made national news earlier this month when he announced he was switching parties in response to what he said was the takeover of the Nevada Democratic Party by its far-left wing.

“After that socialist take over of the Democratic Party, it just snapped me to attention,” he said. “That this is happening in the party now, it’s more than just Washington elitists. It’s happening down at the ground level and that’s what sparked this conversation in my mind.”

There is less than a year

While Lee may not be ready to announce his plans for 2022, he is on the stump, meeting with Republicans across the state.

He came to Gardnerville from Fallon on Friday, where he said Republicans had a lot of questions.

“I’m asking questions, figuring out the temperament and recognizing the strengths and weaknesses I see,” he said.

Lee, 65, grew up in North Las Vegas, after moving there with his family when he was 6 years old. He started Las Vegas Plumbing in 1991, which he continues to own.

He was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1996 and served until 2000. He was elected to the Nevada Senate in 2004 and served until 2012. While in the Senate, he made a brief bid for Congress.

When he was elected mayor of North Las Vegas in 2013, Lee said the city was in financial trouble.

“North Las Vegas was $156 million upside down, losing its charter within three months and had a bond rating going to junk, junk, junk,” he said.

The city is now the third largest in the state and has a balanced budget.

“When I took over as mayor of North Las Vegas, it was a matter of looking at what are the assets and what are the liabilities and how can we make this work,” he said. “For Nevada, if we can get on this soon enough, we’ll do well. If we keep going down the same path no one will be proud to live here anymore.”

He acknowledged that the Republican field to challenge Gov. Steve Sisolak could be a crowded one.

“There’s a lot of people who want to put their toe in and half of those people want to be coronated,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of those people are offering any vision don’t have solutions.”

He said that if someone came along he felt he could follow, he would be happy to do that.

“If I could follow somebody who is a good leader, I would follow them,” he said. “I don’t need to be the leader all the time, but if no one else will be I’ll lead, this is the direction I’m going to take.”

Current law sets filing for state office for the first two weeks of March 2022, but a bill before the Legislature moves that forward a month to February. The bill was declared exempt, so it was not subject to the April 20 deadline to pass from the house of origin.