Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck
Jul 17, 2026 · 26 min · 9 segments
(Lucia Starbuck / KUNR Public Radio) The United States has a long history of voter suppression tactics. As the 2026 General Election heats up, some of those same Jim Crow-era efforts to purge voter…
Carol AndersonGuest
Cisco AguilarGuest
Lucia StarbuckHost
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court gutted part of the Voting Rights Act that ensures district maps can't be drawn in a way that dilutes the political power of minorities.
What is your reaction to that and what kinds of impacts could that have in Nevada?
You know, I think it's really sad because you're starting to see some really great opportunities for diverse communities to take political role leaderships and to really be a standard for what we are moving forward.
In Nevada, it's not really an issue because the political maps are decided by the legislature and the governor.
They would have to call a special session prior to 27 legislative session to make those changes.
And fortunately, I think we're pretty consistent throughout the 26 election cycle.
Do you think there's concern that Latino majority districts in Southern Nevada, for example, could be at risk after this?
I don't know if at risk, but it's a question of how willing are Latinos to have a conversation about the census? You know, distrust among government is pretty high, given the rhetoric we've heard throughout the last year and a half.
And if that rhetoric continues, again, it's about trust and understanding how the information is going to be used.
Along those same lines, we're kind of at this turning point in history where instead of making sure eligible voters can cast their ballot with ease, there are attempts to go back to the Jim Crow era.
When they hear there is a constant back and forth about our elections processes and the counting of ballots, it really raises a flag in somebody's head to say, this is a lot of information for me to handle.
To add an additional burden of stress, some people are going to opt out and choose not to participate.
And that's the dangerous part is when somebody decides not to participate because they're being told bad information.
But again, unfortunately, if you look at all of it in totality, you start to wonder, is this a question where an elected leader is trying to choose their voters rather than voters choosing their leader? And you have to wonder, what is this actually doing to the overall process? If somebody responds to say, I don't think my vote matters, that's heartbreaking.
And we have to change that perspective because we know in Nevada, we know some of our races are so close.
I mean, we had a city council primary race in 24 that was decided, I believe, by 84 votes, 74 votes.
We had a city council race decided by seven votes in the city of North Las Vegas.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court gutted part of the Voting Rights Act that ensures district maps can't be drawn in a way that dilutes the political power of minorities.
What is your reaction to that and what kinds of impacts could that have in Nevada?
You know, I think it's really sad because you're starting to see some really great opportunities for diverse communities to take political role leaderships and to really be a standard for what we are moving forward.
In Nevada, it's not really an issue because the political maps are decided by the legislature and the governor.
They would have to call a special session prior to 27 legislative session to make those changes.
And fortunately, I think we're pretty consistent throughout the 26 election cycle.
Do you think there's concern that Latino majority districts in Southern Nevada, for example, could be at risk after this?
I don't know if at risk, but it's a question of how willing are Latinos to have a conversation about the census? You know, distrust among government is pretty high, given the rhetoric we've heard throughout the last year and a half.
And if that rhetoric continues, again, it's about trust and understanding how the information is going to be used.
Along those same lines, we're kind of at this turning point in history where instead of making sure eligible voters can cast their ballot with ease, there are attempts to go back to the Jim Crow era.
When they hear there is a constant back and forth about our elections processes and the counting of ballots, it really raises a flag in somebody's head to say, this is a lot of information for me to handle.
To add an additional burden of stress, some people are going to opt out and choose not to participate.
And that's the dangerous part is when somebody decides not to participate because they're being told bad information.
But again, unfortunately, if you look at all of it in totality, you start to wonder, is this a question where an elected leader is trying to choose their voters rather than voters choosing their leader? And you have to wonder, what is this actually doing to the overall process? If somebody responds to say, I don't think my vote matters, that's heartbreaking.
And we have to change that perspective because we know in Nevada, we know some of our races are so close.
I mean, we had a city council primary race in 24 that was decided, I believe, by 84 votes, 74 votes.
We had a city council race decided by seven votes in the city of North Las Vegas.
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