Washoe County GOP chairman resigns, will focus on PAC

Michael Kadenacy, now the former chairman of the local party, submitted his resignation letter Monday, saying he wanted to take his efforts elsewhere.

“My personal goal remains the same as when I started as a volunteer for the Party over seven years ago, to have Republicans regain the influence over public policy that it once had,” he wrote.

His goal translated into an effective field program to target nonpartisan voters in state legislative races, he wrote.

Neither the goal nor the approach to achieving it has changed, he told members of the central committee.

New PAC

Kadenacy now plans to continue his work outside the county party.

In a Sept. 24 filing with the secretary of state’s office, Kadenacy is named as an officer of Nevada Wins PAC, a committee with a Las Vegas address.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Kadenacy said the goal of the PAC is to flip the state Senate and make up ground in the Assembly, the same goal of the Washoe County Republican Party’s previous leadership.

He said his team is focused on the plan, “not on some title.”

Michael Jack, a candidate for state GOP chair who is also listed on the filing, said other members resigned their leadership positions Monday when Kadenacy addressed his executive board.

Kadenacy faced possible removal at a special party meeting scheduled for Monday night, but made the decision to leave before the agenda was formed, Jack said.

“You don’t need the party structure to get people elected,” Jack said.

In his resignation letter, Kadenacy referred to an “infamous event” at a Reno hotel and wrote that he is “saddened to see that same behavior infecting the County and State Parties again.”

Last month, Kadenacy had to end a meeting early due to disruptions, Jack said. That’s when members formed a petition for Monday’s special meeting, he said.

Knecht leaves, too

Kadenacy’s letter also refers to a resignation from former state Controller Ron Knecht, who stepped away from the state party and a leadership role in the Carson City Republican Party last month.

In his resignation letter, Knecht wrote that he had limited time and resources and that he must use them where they will be most effective.

“I think the most important thing NV Republicans can do is take back one house of our state legislature and then the other,” he wrote. “It would be good to win back the Governor’s chair and other statewide offices, but my work with Michael Kadenacy, Jim Sievers and others on legislative seats has produced and will produce the highest probabilities for GOP success.”

He said he would focus on his efforts with them and on other priorities.

Knecht is not listed on the Sept. 24 filing but told the Review-Journal he is now the president of the Nevada Wins PAC.

State party ‘dysfunctional’

In his resignation letter, Knecht also said he was leaving because the state party has become dysfunctional, and blamed the state central committee for raising “damaging turmoil” in Clark County.

Nevada Republican Party Chair Michael McDonald said the state party is now respected nationally. He disputed claims of turmoil in Clark County, saying the local party has grown exponentially.

Knecht claims in his letter little of the money raised by the state party came from Nevadans and that the state central committee did little to help in legislative and local races.

McDonald said per capita, the state party had the best small-donor fundraising program in the nation in the last election cycle and is looking to do even better this cycle.

“Every year, we’re getting stronger,” McDonald said.

Knecht wrote in his letter Kadenacy and his team were successful in raising nearly a half-million dollars from Nevadans and using that money to win five of six legislative races they targeted.

“We’ll do even better this coming cycle,” he wrote.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.