GOP Ad Slams Nevada Gov. Sisolak for ‘Fast-Tracking Shady COVID Testing Company’

FILE - In this May 7, 2020, file photo, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak speaks during a news con
AP Photo/Scott Sonner
Katherine Hamilton

RGA Nevada PAC launched a television ad on Wednesday, slamming vulnerable Democrat incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak for “fast-tracking a shady COVID testing company that got 96 percent of their test results wrong…”

The PAC, which is an affiliate of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), said the Sisolak’s actions “[cost] Nevadans’ lives.” The ad is entitled “Cronyism” and is costing the organization $2.5 million.

WATCH: 

The ad states”

It’s a tale of corruption and cronyism that cost lives. Steve Sisolak’s Administration fast-tracked a government contract for a shady company tied to a campaign donor. Sisolak got thirty eight grand in campaign cash. His donor’s sons got a COVID testing contract for their client. But ninety six percent of their tests failed to identify COVID cases…while Nevadans were dying. Now there’s an investigation…and Steve Sisolak is caught in the middle.

RGA spokeswoman Maddie Anderson said in a statement that “Nevada families deserve better.”

“While Nevadans were battling the detrimental effects of the pandemic, Governor Steve Sisolak was helping campaign donors land government contracts,” Anderson said in part. 

The ad’s claims are based on reporting from ProPublica, which found that a coronavirus testing contractor called Northshore Clinical Laboratories, was able to operate in Nevada “without proper licensing and yielded a high rate of negative COVID results for people who actually had the illness,” according to The Nevada Independent. 

The publication reported:

ProPublica’s investigation also found that Northshore used political connections, including contracting with the sons of a close friend to the governor, to fast-track its state laboratory license application and secure testing agreements with five government entities in the state. Those agreements not only gave Northshore the exclusive right to test and bill for thousands of people a week, they also gave its lab a legitimacy lacking among upstart testing companies that had set up shop in strip malls and parking lots across the country.

Moreover, the company and its leaders have a history of fraud allegations, and even though scientists at the Nevada State Public Health Lab had raised concerns about the tests, they were allegedly ignored until the issue was too glaring to sweep aside. 

The governor’s office called Northshore’s behavior “despicable,” but “argued that it opened an investigation and took action to suspend the company’s PCR testing and correct deficiencies the first day it was made aware of the issues.” His office has agreed to comply with a federal subpoena for documents about the company.

Sisolak’s GOP opponent, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, has criticized the incumbent, calling  his involvement with Northshore “the biggest scandal in our history.” The day before RGA Nevada PAC released the ad, Lombardo sent a letter to the Interim Finance Committee, asking its members to determine and release the amount of money needed to address the investigations and lawsuits expected from the victims of Northshore’s failed COVID-19 tests.

“Individuals from the Governor’s Office fast-tracked the inspection and licensure of Northshore Clinical Laboratories without a proper vetting process. Now, due to the unethical actions of Nevada’s Executive Branch, it is unknown how many illnesses and deaths have been caused by the state’s egregious actions,” Lombardo said in the letter.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.