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Juan A Martinez: Difference between revisions
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Added more information on the city council campaign and SOLO USA.
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NickGausling (talk | contribs) (Added more information on the city council campaign and SOLO USA.) |
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==Campaign for North Las Vegas City Council (2013)== | ==Campaign for North Las Vegas City Council (2013)== | ||
Martinez ran | Martinez ran for North Las Vegas City Council in 2013. <ref name=":3">[https://www.nvsos.gov/SOSelectionPages/results/2013CityPrimary/CityofNorthLasVegas.aspx Unofficial Municipal Primary Election Results, City of North Las Vegas (2013)]</ref> He was convinced to run by several libertarian friends who also held leadership positions in the Clark County Republican Party, including [[Doug Pestana]] and [[Nick Gausling]]. The pivotal conversation took place one night in late 2012 in the cafe of the El Cortez, a casino in downtown Las Vegas. It was debated if Martinez should run for City Council or for Mayor of North Las Vegas, with City Council ultimately being settled on as the better choice. Pestana was chosen as Campaign Manager. <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":1" /> | ||
Martinez's district was North Las Vegas Ward 1. While the race was officially non-partisan, the district had a high Hispanic population and leaned heavily Democratic. Martinez's official campaign slogan was "''Meristemos mejor''," roughly translated as "We deserve better." <ref name=":3" /> <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":1" /> | |||
In addition to Martinez, the other candidates were: <ref name=":3" /> | |||
#Isaac Barron (D), who was endorsed by Harry Reid and other key leaders from the Nevada Democratic Party | #Isaac Barron (D), who was endorsed by Harry Reid and other key leaders from the Nevada Democratic Party | ||
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Many board members of the Clark County Republican Party, at the time controlled by libertarians, endorsed Martinez. <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":1" /> | Many board members of the Clark County Republican Party, at the time controlled by libertarians, endorsed Martinez. <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":1" /> | ||
Martinez's campaign ran on a shoestring budget with heavy grassroots volunteer support | Martinez's campaign ran on a shoestring budget with heavy grassroots volunteer support. It used many tactics that were considered unconventional, such as diamond-shaped signs, hand-written letters, conducting official sign placements and changes at highly-visible locations in the middle of the night, and the encouragement of supporters to request mail-in ballots. Pestana's professional background in data analytics was credited with playing a significant role in allowing the campaign to out-maneuver their opponents and leverage low expenditures for high impact. The campaign ultimately achieved a significantly lower expense per vote ratio than most other campaigns averaged throughout the state. <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":1" /> <ref name=":4">Analysis from Doug Pestana (circa 2013)</ref> | ||
== | In the March non-partisan primary, Martinez received 17.92% and did not advance to the general election. Although he was a registered Republican, he is believed to have mostly drawn Democrat support away from Barron, thus preventing him from claiming the 50%+ he needed for an automatic win in the primary. <ref name=":3" /> <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":4" /> | ||
==Politics as Career (2013 - Present)== | |||
In | In the aftermath of his campaign, Martinez co-founded the [[Synergy Opportunity Liberty Organization (SOLO USA)]], a Nevada non-profit that promoted libertarian ideas to Hispanics, around the summer of 2013. Many of SOLO USA's grassroots efforts were informed by the operational successes and efficiencies of the campaign, and a number of the organization's co-founders had been his campaign volunteers, including [[Doug Pestana]]. <ref>[https://esos.nv.gov/EntitySearch/BusinessInformation Nevada SilverFlume Business Entity Search, Entity Number E0216072014-7]</ref> <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":1" /> | ||
[ | Martinez joined [[The LIBRE Initiative]] around late 2013 as an independent contractor working on field operations. <ref name=":2" /> <ref name=":1" /> In July 2014, he was named the organization's Nevada State Director. <ref name=":0" /> | ||
Martinez was appointed by the North Las Vegas City Council to the city's Civil Service Board of Trustees in September 2014, serving until December 2016. <ref name=":0" /> | Martinez was appointed by the North Las Vegas City Council to the city's Civil Service Board of Trustees in September 2014, serving until December 2016. <ref name=":0" /> | ||