Nevada Elections Remind Reno Voters Of California Politics

Lois Manning and Andy Medrano don’t know each other, but they’re both longtime Reno residents. She’s a Democrat and he’s a Republican.

Despite their voting differences they agree on one thing: This election cycle has been nasty.

They’re both tired of attack ads. Manning blames the multimillion dollar campaigns for a U.S. Senate seat and the race for governor.

“On the local level, there has been no nastiness at all,” Manning said. “It’s at the state and national level that things are out of control.”

But Medrano doesn’t blame national politics. He said it’s the influence of California’s election system on Nevada, especially with tech companies moving into Reno.

“It almost felt like I was back in California with the political ads, the negativity from all of it,” Medrano said when asked about the source of the nastiness.

But still, Medrano said the Californication of Reno isn’t all bad, he just wants to retire before it gets worse.

It’s a storyline that voters repeated over and over again in Reno: They say a shift is coming, but they’re just unsure about how much more change Tuesday’s election will spur on in the Silver State.

Manning said Reno has gotten its act together under Mayor Hillary Schieve; she says just look at how downtown has been cleaned up. Schieve also ran for re-election this cycle.