It's challenging enough to pay attention to political races in our home states, much less those in other states. But recent headlines make clear that it's more important than ever that the klieg lights shine on these offices, and that those who occupy them face national as well as regional scrutiny.

Remember Tiffany Henyard, the self-proclaimed Democrat "super mayor" of tiny Dolton, Illinois? Her unaccounted-for spending was so bad that the village brought in former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate; Lightfoot's work revealed that the village of Dolton went from having a $5.6 million surplus to a $3.6 million deficit, a difference of $9.2 million, in just four years. (Henyard has since moved to Georgia and is now running — as a Republican — to win a seat on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Georgians, you've been warned.)

And the multibillion-dollar fraud that's been exposed in Minnesota, Ohio and California was facilitated at the level of state government. State taxpayers have been fleeced by these grifters, but they aren't the only ones. Many of the programs that are rife with fraud also involve grants or reimbursements from the federal government, which means that the thieves are stealing from the rest of us, too.

So, yes, state and local offices matter.

The Nevada state treasurer's race is one such example. The two Republican candidates vying to win the June 9 primary are Jeff Carter and Drew Johnson. I was drawn to write about this race because I've known Jeff Carter for 25 years, I have great respect for him, and it's fascinating to watch the same political dynamic we see among Republicans at the national level play out in state and local........

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