While I don’t claim to know all the goings-on in Carson City, it seems to me Nevada’s a Secretary of State who’s got one foot in the Silver State and the other already boarding a train for Washington. Cisco Aguila has been named the new chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, or DASS, a club of like-minded office-holders intent on shaping how the nation votes, one battleground at a time.
You might say, “Well, that sounds mighty important,” and you’d be right.
But when a man’s chimney’s belching smoke and the roof’s leaking, you don’t expect him to spend his days patching other folks’ houses. Aguilar’s office, mind you, has more than a few creaks and rattles.
But, now he’s taken on the responsibility of steering national strategy for a party-funded group that spent millions getting folks like him elected. One might wonder–is gratitude, ambition, or obligation calling the tune? Whatever it is, it’s loud enough to carry beyond the Nevada line.
Mr. Aguilar took office in January of 2023 after besting Republican Jim Marchant by a whisker—just 2.4 percent of the vote. The little margin, however thin, was greased with heavy money and airwaves blanketed by an $11 million ad blitz thanks to DASS and its stable of left-leaning partners.
With his term not even halfway done, Aguilar’s taken up the national reins while his own stable’s got some broken boards.
Politics, like poker, is judged not by the tale you tell but by the hand you play. And the hands being dealt in Nevada’s election office lately haven’t inspired confidence. There’s been a lawsuit over neglected voter rolls, claims that the Secretary has failed to properly clean the list of names clogging up the books—a charge he’s shrugged off as meritless.
Then came the website glitch in 2024, showing mail-in ballots submitted by voters who swore they’d done no such thing. Add to that a molasses-slow ballot count in Clark County, with 54,000 mail ballots dropped off on Election Day but not reported until two days later, and you’ve got a stew thick with questions.
As if that weren’t enough to gum up the gears, Mr. Aguilar and his team are now pushing to expand a federal military voting law (UOCAVA) for civilians to email in ballots without a doctor’s note or a boarding pass to back their absence. Experts—folks who know a thing or two about cybersecurity—have been waving red flags about the dangers of internet voting since the idea first came down the pike, but Aguilar says the system’s secure enough. That sounds like the final words before a stagecoach robbery.
Now, let’s gander at what’s going on in the legislature. One bill after another seems aimed at expanding the Secretary’s reach like a man digging his well into the neighbor’s pasture. Proposals would allow Aguilar to fire elected County Clerks, demand near-instant reports, and create slush funds without oversight. There’s even talk of narrowing the rules on voter challenges so tightly that if a ghost voted in your name, you’d still need an affidavit from the grave to stop it.
Nevada law is clear. County Clerks get elected by the people and don’t report to the Secretary of State. But you wouldn’t know it by reading the latest crop of bills. It’s as if the legislature’s building a castle for Aguilar brick by brick while the townsfolk below wonder why their voices echo so faintly.
Meanwhile, the same Secretary now chairs DASS—a national group opposed to Voter ID–despite Nevadans passing it handily in 2024– throws its weight against the SAVE Act requiring proof of citizenship to vote and paints any federal move to clean up elections as a “blatant attack.” Aguilar echoed that sentiment, lambasting President Trump’s executive order on elections with more heat than light.
And therein lies the rub. While Nevada voters wrestle with delayed ballots, database errors, and legislative overreach, their top election official is now steering the ship for Democrats nationwide. He’ll be shaping policy far and wide while being shaped by the same national party that helped lift him into office. It’s a fine line between leading and being led—and Nevadans have every right to wonder which side of that line he stands on.
As one federal official rightly said, “Americans deserve to have confidence in their elections.” And that confidence comes not from TV ads or slick messaging but from transparency, accountability, and a firm handshake with the truth.
Time will tell if Cisco Aguilar can wear both hats—the one he doffs in Nevada and the one he accepted in Washington. But for now, some folks are left scratching their heads, watching the man ride off to fix other state’s elections while their horse stands lame in the livery.
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