The Tension at the Washoe County Commission Meeting
On July 9, Clara Andriola settled into her seat at the Washoe County commission meeting, greeted by a crowd of visibly agitated attendees. The commission serves as the primary legislative body for Washoe County, Nevada, and Andriola, a seasoned business executive in the area, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the five-member board the previous year. Recently, she had emerged victorious in a Republican primary, positioning herself to likely retain her seat through the upcoming November general election.
The meeting’s agenda required the commission to certify election results at all levels, from local primaries to the presidential election. What should have been a straightforward administrative process quickly devolved into a contentious debate.
For three hours, the crowd voiced their grievances regarding what they perceived as a flawed primary election. Some individuals pointed out minor bureaucratic oversights, such as ballots that were not properly addressed. Others presented more extravagant claims, including an unfounded rumor circulating on social media about a Serbian conspiracy to manipulate voting machines. Although these stories lacked coherence, the community was united in their belief that the integrity of democracy was at stake, and they demanded one specific action: they wanted Andriola to side with her two Republican colleagues to overturn her own victory.
Andriola understood the gravity of her legal obligation to certify elections, a duty that transcended local politics and echoed on a national level. Like numerous election officials across the United States, the Washoe County commissioners were responsible for not only certifying local elections but also for laying the groundwork for the formalization of presidential results nationwide. Washoe County held particular significance as it was a swing district within a pivotal swing state.
This context elevated the stakes surrounding Andriola’s recent primary victory. Notably, Washoe’s longest-serving commissioner, Jeanne Herman, had been among the first and only local officials nationwide to reject the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 win, asserting that the election was flawed. At that time, she was outvoted by her four colleagues. However, in 2022, a local cryptocurrency millionaire named Robert Beadles and a rising tide of election denialists succeeded in electing a second commissioner, Mike Clark, who similarly expressed skepticism about the 2020 election results. With one more like-minded Republican commissioner on board, the election deniers would achieve a three-vote majority.
While Andriola had prominently showcased her support for Donald Trump in her campaign advertisements, she also emphasized that elections “should not be a partisan issue.” She won the primary decisively against several challengers who embraced election denialism, and her victory was reaffirmed even after Beadles funded a recount. (The July 9 meeting was convened to conduct a second certification of this recount.)
However, during the hearing, Beadles presented an analysis of the ballot data, asserting that the election outcome was a “13.4 sigma” event—so improbable that it suggested some form of interference must have occurred. This analysis originated from a self-proclaimed math enthusiast from Long Island named Edward Solomon, who had previously made a similar, widely discredited argument in 2020 to support claims that Biden had stolen the election. Nevertheless, Beadles believed the analysis warranted serious consideration. “I’ve given you guys enough evidence right there that you guys should hit pause,” he urged. “Do your duty.”