Yesterday should have been a simple holiday gathering — the Washoe Republican Women’s annual party at a member’s home. Cookies, ornaments, political small talk. Instead, it turned into yet another snapshot of the GOP’s ongoing identity crisis, starring none other than Commissioner Clara Andriola, who was there holding court like the club exists solely at her pleasure.

The Washoe County Republican Party might want to invest in a spreadsheet — or at least a group chat — because the 2026 ballot is shaping up to be one giant, red-tinted identity crisis.

First, there’s the Reno mayor’s race. Two elephants, one chair: Councilmember Kathleen Taylor, who rode GOP backing to a razor-thin win in 2024, and perennial candidate Eddie Lorton, the party’s forever date who’s back for another dance.

If leadership is about vision, strategy, and cohesion — then Washoe County Republicans are proving once again that they’ve got none of the above. Their so-called leader, Bruce Parks, seems more like a stagehand than a director: taking cues, following scripts, and letting others ghostwrite the footnotes, easier to point a finger after failure.

While the media circus twirls around Governor Lombardo's Lincoln Day Dinner comments, Picon is asking the question no other media seems interested in: who exactly brought the recording device to Club Fandango? In a room packed with the Governor's devoted supporters, someone clearly came prepared to capture more than just memories.

Picon ponders if Governor Joe Lombardo put any time/research into his decision to appoint Clara Andriola as the Washoe County commissioner in District 4. His choice is blowing-up his Republican party in Washoe County and shouldn’t he be thinking about his re-election in 2026. Or is Joe one and done? Might that explain his “pulling his party apart” commissioner appointment choice of Andriola, he just didn’t care. Or was he doing a favor for a contributor? Or a City Councilmember in Sparks?