Adriana Guzmán Fralick, Nicole Cannizzaro. (Candidate photos)
President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Adriana Guzmán Fralick may have helped secure her victory in the Republican primary for Nevada attorney general, but now it may be a liability heading into her general election where she faces Democratic nominee Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.
Cannizzaro, like Democrats up and down the ballot, has been campaigning on her experience fighting Trump administration policies as a legislator.
Meanwhile, Guzmán Fralick removed from her campaign website a banner highlighting her Trump endorsement, according to archived copies. She did so sometime after her primary against Douglas County Commissioner Danny Tarkanian, whom her campaign routinely attacked as being anti-Trump.
While her campaign now downplays the Trump endorsement, Guzmán Fralick has kept up the prominent highlighting of her endorsement by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. Guzmán Fralick has been described as handpicked by the governor’s camp. Lombardo, who is running for a second term and is facing Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, has similarly been forced to navigate how to appeal to a general public seemingly souring on Trump without angering the MAGA machine and its base.
An “issues” section of Guzmán Fralick’s campaign website was also reorganized, according to internet archives. A section highlighting her commitment to “securing Nevada’s elections” and backing Trump’s SAVE Act was moved down.
Still, Guzmán Fralick has spoken highly of Trump in the interviews she has done on the campaign trail. She led the Pledge of Allegiance at Trump’s August rally in Las Vegas and later recounted to Veterans in Politics that she “almost cried” while meeting the president.
Guzmán Fralick in that interview also spoke highly of former Gov. Jim Gibbons, who is best known for personal scandals and being the only incumbent governor in Nevada to lose their primary. Gibbons gave Guzmán Fralick one of her first roles in the public sector.
Guzmán Fralick went to work for several state commissions and boards, most recently the Cannabis Compliance Board, which she chaired. Lombardo appointed her to that board.
This November she faces Cannizzaro, who has served in the Nevada State Legislature since 2016 and currently serves as Senate majority leader. She is the first woman to hold the position. Cannizzaro has championed reproductive rights, criminal justice and education bills.
Outside of the Legislature, she spent a decade as a criminal prosecutor within the Clark County District Attorney’s Office before moving to Richard Harris Personal Injury Law Firm.
She told the Current before the June primary that she sees the AG office as a natural extension of her experience as a prosecutor and legislator.
The Nevada Attorney General’s Office has more than 400 employees, including 155 attorneys and 62 investigators, according to its most recent biennial report. The office represents the state in lawsuits. That can include major nationwide litigation, like those filed against pharmaceutical companies, social media companies or the federal government. It can also be criminal cases, such as those related to Medicaid provider fraud.
The Nevada attorney general’s office has been a springboard for higher office. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, went from AG to governor in 2005. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, went from AG to the U.S. Senate in 2015. Republican Adam Laxalt, served one term as AG then ran for governor and U.S. Senate, though he was unsuccessful both times. Ford is now running for governor.
Guzmán Fralick and Cannizzaro both attended the University of Nevada Reno for undergraduate degrees, then attended UNLV’s Boyd School of Law, though not at the same time.
Both women emphasize their working class roots. Guzmán Fralick is an immigrant who says her family arrived in Northern Nevada on the Fourth of July when she was 9 years old. Cannizzaro on the campaign trail and in legislative hearings has noted her parents worked in the service industry and she became the first in her family to graduate college.
