Politics of personalities may have done in Fiore

In the end, making a political issue personal might have done in Assemblywoman Michele Fiore.

The Las Vegas Republican was coming off a tumultuous week — she’d been deposed and then quickly restored as majority leader-designate and chairwoman of the Assembly Taxation Committee by Speaker-designate John Hambrick, R-Las Vegas — when she doubled down on allegations that certain Republican forces were targeting her and other conservatives.

Speaking on the Alan Stock radio show on KDWN-AM 720 on Tuesday, Fiore not only repeated her rhetoric about a “war on women,” but blamed some of the alleged infantrymen in that conflict: Republican businessman Monte Miller, and political consultants Cory Christensen and Nathan Emens.

On Twitter, Emens — a consultant who has worked with Hambrick — predicted “Fiore will be saying ouch soon!” Later that night, Hambrick took to Facebook to condemn Fiore’s attacks on Miller, Christensen and Emens.

“Assemblywoman Fiore referred to an alleged criminal conspiracy being perpetrated by Nathan Emens, Cory Christensen and Monte Miller. Assemblywoman Fiore was not speaking on behalf of the Nevada Republican Assembly Caucus,” Hambrick wrote, adding that he “stands firmly” behind Emens, who has served as Hambrick’s campaign manager. “These remarks are truly regrettable and an embarrassment to our caucus and I am urging an immediate public apology be made to Nathan, Monte, Cory and our caucus.”

There was no apology. And on Thursday, Hambrick reversed himself once again, and re-removed Fiore as chairwoman of the Taxation Committee and as majority leader. Assemblyman Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas, will be the new majority leader, and freshman Assemblyman Derek Armstrong, R-Las Vegas, will take over the Taxation Committee. (Armstrong is a tax attorney in his private practice.)

“Last week, I removed Michele as the Taxation Committee chair due to her ongoing IRS issues. I later changed my mind, because I was assured that all the issues would be answered on Monday [Dec. 15],” Hambrick said on Thursday in a statement. “I found that Michele’s explanations of her IRS issues were unacceptable. They left unanswered questions, were full of deflections and slanderous allegations that have left our caucus further divided. … Michele’s actions have brought undue negativity and disharmony to our caucus. The attention to Michele’s tax issues, conspiracy theories and slanderous remarks have drawn the focus of our caucus members away from their constituents and preparation for the upcoming session.”

Another factor: The Clark County Commission’s appointment of former county parks director Glenn Trowbridge to replace former Assemblyman Wes Duncan, R-Las Vegas. Duncan, a vote of support for Hambrick, left the Assembly to take a position as chief of staff to Attorney General-elect Adam Laxalt, a move that temporarily left the Assembly’s moderate Republicans down one vote. With Trowbridge’s appointment, the moderate faction had enough votes (including Hambrick’s) to back up a move to depose Fiore from her twin jobs.

There are plenty of people who will believe that Fiore’s ideology led to her downfall: She’s a signer of the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to not ever vote for a net increase in taxes. And while she pledged in an interview with me to hear all tax plans, few could see her allowing one to pass out of her committee if she were in charge of the tax panel. (The initial removal of conservative freshman Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman, R-Las Vegas, as vice chairwoman of the committee could be seen as further evidence.)

But Hambrick seemed willing to allow Fiore to stay, even after her tax problems were reported, and even after she’d claimed to be the victim of a “war on women.” It was only after Fiore named names on Stock’s radio show Tuesday and accused a close Hambrick ally that things seemed to go south for good.

Pro-tax forces should avoid reading too much into these moves, however: A vote for Hambrick’s newly Fiore-free leadership doesn’t necessarily translate into a vote in favor of a tax plan. And, if Fiore handles her second defenestration with more grace and aplomb than she handled the initial allegations against her, she may yet be able to retain some influence in her caucus.

Steve Sebelius is a Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.