Delaire and Daly, Two Candidates Under Scrutiny
In the last week, members of the community have come forward to us with concerns about two local candidates, Skip Daly, a Democrat running for Senate District 13, and Bret Delaire, a Republican running for State Assembly District 26.
Delaire, whose campaign signs have Nazi looking lightning bolts, crosses, “It’s Just the Flu” and other messages, has a website quoting extensively from the Epoch Times, a far-right international media company affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement. Digging into his background, and past news articles, another community member pointed out Delaire and his father had close ties with fraudster Bernie Madoff. As part of those investigations, in 2009, Delaire was placed on administrative leave from his NYSE post. This was also documented during his previous failed run for Washoe County Commission District 2 in 2018.
On the Democratic side, a community member pointed us to a 2016 police report of a fight at a union meeting between Daly and a disabled man he punched in the face after words had been exchanged. Daly has been endorsed in his race by the Nevada Senate Democrats, raising questions whether they did their due diligence in their vetting process and if the union veteran and former office holder is fit for a public leadership position. Neither Daly nor the Senate group responded to emails for comment.
On our Instagram post lance_dad_lawyer wrote: “I think we pick (and support) the same people to run for and hold office again and again. If there were actual competition for these position (and not forever support party candidates), people like this could be removed.”
Primary voting is just around the corner and several of our local, regional and statewide races are heating up, with progressives, long shots, far right firebrands and establishment candidates all vying for the November runoffs.
Highlights of our Reporting this Week
*One candidate trying to break through in the mayoral race is Tabitha Schneider (above) and featured in this article: https://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2022/4/22/tabitha-schneider-running-for-mayor-to-move-forward-as-a-community
*Part Three of our Last Motel Residents of Reno is about John Earls, who recently lost his daughter and has decided to stay in the motel room they used to live in together: https://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2022/4/22/the-last-motel-residents-of-reno-a-retired-post-office-worker-who-lost-his-daughter
*As part of our Sheroes of Reno series, we went to the Sierra View Library to feature Melissa Garcia, a bilingual librarian helping bridge the digital divide: https://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2022/4/21/melissa-garcia-a-local-librarian-helping-bridge-the-growing-digital-divide
*Our Keep Reno Rad music series profiles DANKAA, who has battled so much at such a young age but now thrives as a musician: https://www.ourtownreno.com/keeping-reno-rad/2022/4/21/from-dealing-with-graves-disease-and-mental-illness-local-musician-dankaa-perseveres
*Our Recommended Read is Rage by Gary C. King about a Reno marital dispute gone horribly wrong, which made international headlines: https://www.ourtownreno.com/recommended-reads/2022/4/18/rage-by-gary-c-king
*Our weekly podcast is with Cotter C. Conway running for a local judge position and giving us a Civics 101 lesson: https://ourtownreno.simplecast.com/episodes/cotter-conway-on-the-rehabilitative-side-running-for-reno-justice-of-the-peace