When simply looking at a political map of the state of Nevada, with the color red showing counties that generally vote Republican and blue representing areas where Democrats hold the majority, one might assume that the state as a whole votes “red” but this would be misleading. Though the sections of “blue” on such a map would be quite tiny in comparison to the vast swathes of “red”, they are the population centers of Nevada. Thus, these “blue” patches are the controlling factor when it comes to the local outcome of statewide and federal elections, and it is this very fact that birthed a push to create a whole new state of the union, New Nevada.
Launched in January, 2019, the New Nevada State Movement has spent the last two years working to bring together those who would like to see Clark County severed from the rest of the state, but with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of last year, the group’s momentum was slowed. That did not stop the New Nevada State Movement from moving forward, however, and now that the pandemic has eased and restrictions are no longer so stringent, the group is ready to get back into high gear, with its very first in-person meeting set for tomorrow, Thursday, July 8.
“We’re very, very busy these days. We’ve got multiple counties that are forming committees and the constitutional county committees are really taking off,” Debra Gaylord-Thomas of the New Nevada State Movement reported. “This will be our first in-person meeting since the pandemic, it’s been over a year now. We’re expecting to have people there who have never been to any of our town halls before, so we are going to go over the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ and try to inspire the people to step up and help make this happen. There are a number of ways that people can help and we’ll be talking about that as well.
“We’ll also be equipping our supporters to be their own lobbyists in their communities, because that is where it needs to start. We’ll be doing a lot of training, using the resources with Leadership Institute and Citizens for Free Speech and with examples based on the experience I have had in doing grassroots activism in the past,” she continued.
Gaylord-Thomas explained that movement to form a new state got its start after she and her husband, who she describes as refugees from California, moved to the Silver State in search of greater freedom.
“When we found out that liberty was being short-changed in Nevada, because the people in Clark County comprise a large majority of the state population and they vote the way urban people vote, and rural Nevada gets stuck living how urban people want to live, we decided to form a new state, as outlined in the Constitution of the United States, Article 4, section 3,” she stated. “Rural Nevada deserves to have equal footing.”
As to the efforts the group will be focusing on over the next couple of years, she said there are a few things that must be accomplished before New Nevada can be created. First, the group needs to obtain enough support at the state level. “In 2022, we’re going to be trying to help get candidates elected who will support us and vote for us and lobby for us, so we’ll be trying to take the first step, which is gaining approval by the state Legislature, in 2023,” Gaylord-Thomas explained.
For this, however, the New Nevada State Movement will need all the support it can get at the community level. The group is seeking out those who would be willing to offer their time, energy and enthusiasm in the coming years as the painstaking process of establishing a new state is pursued. To this end, Gaylord-Thomas is urging members of the public to head out to the New Nevada State Movement meeting scheduled for tomorrow so they can learn all about the purpose and reasoning behind the push.
The New Nevada State Movement Town Hall Meeting in Pahrump is set for Thursday, July 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Nye County Republican Central Committee Headquarters, 3370 S. Highway 160, Suite #7 The meeting is open to anyone interested in learning more about the movement or desiring to get involved.
For more information visit www.NewNevadaStateMovement.com
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com