The spotlight’s on Nevada as residents prepare to vote in races for president, U.S. Senate, and 52 legislative seats that will determine the governor’s veto power.

A decision by Senior District Judge Robert Estes on Wednesday will have the likely effect of keeping the new legislative district maps — which favor Democrats — in place for the 2022 election.

A law firm known for representing Nevada Democrats is representing the state Legislature in the ongoing redistricting lawsuit filed by Republican Assembly members.

Opposition to the proposed maps came from Republican lawmakers, upset at the prospect of a decade-long stay in the political wilderness, and advocates who said the maps divide many communities of interest.

Assemblywoman Jill Tolles (R-Reno) will not run for re-election to her Northern Nevada seat in 2022, making her the ninth of 16 Republican Assembly members who have announced or are mulling not returning to their positions for the 2023 session.

But even with more stringent steps to combat the pandemic local governments have had widely divergent responses to the situation.

Democrats controlled both houses of the Legislature during the 2021 session, and hundreds of high-profile Democratic measures sailed through the Assembly and Senate while a vast majority of Republican-backed measures failed to make much headway in the legislative process.

From permanent expanded mail voting to the state public health option, the 2021 Legislature saw no shortage of headline-grabbing partisan disagreements — but a look at actual vote totals reveals that the vast majority of bills were passed with at least some bipartisan buy-in.

The legislation prioritized by Native leaders that cleared the lawmaking session include measures that waive fees at Nevada colleges and universities for Native students; prohibit racially discriminatory language or imagery in schools; and provide environmental protection for sacred sites, among others.

In this edition: Has this session started slower than others? Plus, the Nevada Republican Party turns in election complaints, unemployment updates and related GOP indignation, plus a look at upcoming major bill hearings.

In this edition: Can either Assemblywoman Annie Black or a federal lawsuit open the Legislature to the public? Plus, details on a bill to pay inmates the minimum wage, a proposed esports commission and legislative Democrats’ plan to offset educational losses during a year of COVID. Carson City Restaurant Spotlight makes a triumphant return.

With the dust mostly settled from the 2020 election — which saw a record number of votes cast and nearly half submitted through mail or a drop box — Nevada Democrats are now doubling down on mail-in voting.

Attorneys for the state of Nevada are seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit against the secretary of state regarding voter roll maintenance, asserting that the court does not have jurisdiction over the subject matter and that the plaintiffs have misrepresented the secretary of state’s role in maintaining voter rolls.

Titus reiterated that she wants no new taxes — a declaration that could stall any plans to increase revenue this session because Democrats would need to secure a two-thirds majority to push through any plan. Republicans hold 16 of 42 seats.

More than 140,000 people registered as new voters through Nevada’s automatic voter registration (AVR) system since it took effect in January last year, according to a new report.

This week’s Indy Environment newsletter looks at Biden’s strategy for public lands. On Wednesday, President Biden signed an executive order focusing efforts around conserving public land, increasing renewable development and creating jobs in an economic transition.

The images pouring out of the Capitol had echoes of armed confrontations seen in the West — and Nevada — throughout 2020 and during the past several years. In Nevada and elsewhere, these conflicts, like the Bundy Ranch standoff in 2014, have often centered on disputes over federal public land.

Members of the Assembly, after a five-hour hearing Wednesday night, voted 31-10 to grant final approval to SB4, the last major piece of legislation to advance in the special session. It mandates certain health and safety protections for hospitality workers, in addition to granting broad liability protections to nearly all businesses, governmental bodies and nonprofit groups in the state so long as they follow required local, state and federal health protocols.

A bill that restricts police use of chokeholds, allows recording of law enforcement and calls for drug testing of officers involved in shootings passed the Assembly with bipartisan support, in spite of criticism that lawmakers could have gone further to address police brutality.

Of the 42 seats in the state Assembly, almost a quarter will be decided in the primary election. Four races will actually be decided in the primary — including three incumbent Republicans fending off challengers — because no other candidates filed to run in those districts. Another five races will effectively be decided in the primary, given vast disparity in voter registration totals making it all but impossible for the opposing party to gain a foothold.