Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama exemplifies why so many Republican voters don’t trust Republican elected officials. Now, she wants a promotion.
Early voting for Nevada’s June primary begins this month. The Republican primary for Clark County Commission District F is one of the most contentious races. Kasama, who has served three terms in the Assembly, is running against businessman Albert Mack. Mack is new to politics, but his last name should sound familiar. The “Mack” in the Thomas &Mack Center is there to honor his grandfather.
Kasama claims to be a “proven conservative fighter with a track record of standing up for Nevada families.” She has a record, but it’s not very conservative.
Consider this. In the past legislative session, Assemblyman Bert Gurr proposed a bill to protect women’s sports. That’s just common sense, but there isn’t much of that in Carson City. During the session, standing up for female athletes required the courage to tick off legislative Democrats and perhaps even some GOP consultants. To their credit, 13 of the 15 Assembly Republicans signed on as sponsors or co-sponsors. Kasama wasn’t one of them.
When it would have cost her, Kasama couldn’t be found. But now that Gov. Joe Lombardo is pushing an initiative to protect female sports, Kasama has come out in support of it. That looks less like acting on principle and more like jumping to the front of someone else’s parade.
In a special session last year, a proposal to give handouts to Hollywood divided the Legislature. It was a terrible idea to give away $1.8 billion in transferable tax credits over 15 years. For a “conservative fighter,” that should have been an easy “no” vote. But Kasama provided the deciding “yes” vote — while voting remotely. The bill later died in the Senate.
It’s not just one vote. For the 2023 legislative session, Nevada Policy ranked Kasama as the lowest-scoring Republican. That’s the group I used to work for. Her ranking did improve in 2025, but she still scored under 76 percent.
Because it’s hard to run on her record, Kasama has resorted to attacking Mack. This isn’t a complaint about negative campaigning. That’s normal and even important.
There’s a major difference, however, between negative campaigning and dishonesty. Kasama has plastered signs around the valley with a picture that shows Mack in a “I’m with Her” shirt giving a side hug to Hillary Clinton.
But Mack says he’s never worn that shirt, never spoken with Clinton and “certainly never hugged her.” If you examine the sign closely, you’ll see the explanation.
“This image has been manipulated,” the sign states in font so small most people will never see it.
That’s right. Kasama’s big attack on Mack is “manipulated.”
If you go to Kasama’s microsite, what you’ll find connecting Mack to Clinton is laughably thin. In a tweet from the 2014 UNLV Foundation dinner where Clinton spoke, Mack called her “the next POTUS.” That’s it. No T-shirt. No hug. No picture of them together.
It’s not just signs. What Kasama really hopes to manipulate are Republican voters.
Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow
@victorjoecks on X.
