Crowning Clara: The Queen-in-Waiting for Chair?

Commissioner Clara Andriola is supporting School Board Trustee Colleen Westlake … would it be because both are no longer recognized by the Washoe Republican Party as Republicans, and hence not Westlake is not being supported.

In 2022, Colleen Westlake was a full-fledged Robert Beadles disciple — speaking at Boomtown’s “Freedom Fridays” as only the inner-circle got to do, railing against Democrats at King Buffet Conservative Talk luncheons, and vowing to clean up schools by getting rid of ‘certain’ books and ending coed bathrooms. Republicans rallied, got her elected — and then she flipped. Westlake ditched her conservative base, sided with the very crowd she once condemned, and left Jeff Church and her GOP supporters in the dust. Now, as she runs for re-election, even the Washoe County Republican Party has cut her loose — officially excommunicated and politically orphaned, just like her new supporter Commissioner Clara Andriola who has turned on her fellow Republican commissioner members, Jeanne Herman and Mike Clark.

There’s a rumor swirling through Washoe County that Commissioner Clara Andriola has her eyes on the prize — the Chair’s seat of the Washoe County Commission. If true, that would explain the recent alliances, photo ops, and sudden smiles, and supporting Westlake.

But before we roll out the red carpet, let’s take a little trip down political memory lane.

It wasn’t so long ago that both Clara Andriola and her new ally, Coleen Westlake, were excommunicated from the Washoe County Republican Party — yes, officially disowned. In 2024, the local GOP declared neither woman a Republican in good standing and pledged not to endorse or support either for any public office. That’s political purgatory, Nevada-style.

And yet, strangely enough, Governor Joe Lombardo and Lt. Governor Stavros Anthony still chose to publicly support Andriola. Why? Maybe it was convenience. Maybe it was complacency. Or maybe, just maybe, they figured it didn’t matter — because by that point, the 2024 primary was over, both nonpartisan challengers had bowed out, and Clara waltzed unopposed into her seat, crowned by circumstance rather than choice.

Now, rumor has it she wants to extend that coronation — straight into the Chair’s position.

But let’s not forget her tone-deaf comments from January 2024, when Andriola infamously said of Commissioner Jeanne Herman, who’s served on the board for more than a decade:

“I would love to see Commissioner Herman be the chair. I just don’t think she’s ready at this point.”

The remark was met with boos from the audience — and for good reason. Herman has weathered storms, stood up to former commissioners who barely spoke to her, and outlasted them all. If seniority, grit, and sheer endurance meant anything in Washoe County politics, the chair would already have her nameplate.

But this is Clara’s Washoe County, where the playbook seems to be: praise in public, position in private, and polish the crown just in case.

So while Andriola courts her way toward the chair, voters might ask: what’s the real motivation here — leadership, or legacy building?

Because from where we sit, the only throne worth watching is the one being quietly built in Clara’s office, one press release and photo op at a time.

Might the Washoe Republican Women’s club, who now demand a reservation for their meetings, you can not show up as you’ve been able to for years day of, be protecting both Andriola and Westlake - so they know who will be in the audience and avoid any controversary. Neither is recognized as a Republicans according to resolutions issued by the Republican Party of Washoe County.