‘Conservative outcry’: Parental rights advocates feel betrayed by new trustee

After years of feeling silenced at Clark County School Board meetings, parental rights advocates successfully campaigned for two of their own to take seats on the board.

But it took just a single vote by one of the two for many of those advocates to feel betrayed.

In her first meeting after being sworn in, former Moms for Liberty member Lydia Dominguez made what seemed to many people as a surprising decision: Instead of voting for Lorena Biassotti, whom she has previously described as a “sister,” Dominguez voted for Linda Cavazos, a trustee with whom the group has had a historically adversarial relationship, to be board president.

Cavazos ultimately lost the vote to Trustee Irene Bustamante Adams, but Dominguez’s vote still shocked people who had campaigned for her.

“I cannot express loudly enough my disappointment with Lydia Dominguez. Lydia Dominguez was sent here by the parents for changes, and the first vote she cast was for Linda Cavazos, who the parents overwhelmingly voted against the people she endorsed,” another former Moms for Liberty member, Katrin Ivanoff, said at the Jan. 8 meeting, which was a work session.

Cavazos and Moms for Liberty have been adversaries in the past — Cavazos was board president in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and received pushback from the group for mask mandates. Cavazos is also an open supporter of the district’s antiracism and gender inclusive policies, which the group has advocated against. In this year’s election, she endorsed the opponents of both Biassotti and Dominguez.

‘Conservative outcry’

Ivanoff told the Review-Journal that she had been friends with Dominguez for four years and had campaigned for her. When she found out prior to the meeting that Dominguez planned to vote for Cavazos, she encouraged Biassotti to put herself in the running to see what would happen. After Dominguez still chose Cavazos, Ivanoff felt betrayed.

She said that she she was not alone, but that in the week since, there has been a “conservative outcry” against the woman for whom they campaigned. Biassotti and Dominguez both described a huge response from the conservative community since the vote.

Biassotti said that she and Dominguez had campaigned on “voting your values” but that Dominguez’s vote did not seem to uphold their values.

“I couldn’t understand how, having been on the receiving end of those attacks as a parent, you could overcome that. And not vote your values,” Biassotti said.

Biassotti has historically been more outspoken publicly than Dominguez, including wearing a hazmat suit to a board meeting to protest mask mandates, and being kicked out for disruptive behavior.

“I’ll be that conservative voice,” Biassotti told the Review-Journal.

Dominguez and Biassotti announced their departure from Clark County’s Moms for Liberty chapter in August, but they told the Las Vegas Review-Journal they still agreed with the mission.

Also in August, Yadusha Jones became the president of the group. Jones said there is “no animosity” with the women and that she supports everyone who dedicates their time to the School Board. She said that she respects Dominguez’s decision to vote for whoever she thinks is best.

Moving the district forward

Dominguez said that she spent the weekend after the vote talking to several people trying to explain her decision making. Prior to taking the vote, she had watched 20 hours of board meetings to research her decision.

She and Cavazos have both denied allegations, mainly stemming from Ivanoff, that they had any sort of previous deal prior to the meeting.

“I need to make the right choice, not based on my feelings or politics, but based on what will move the district forward,” Dominguez told the Review-Journal.

Cavazos said that she thought Dominguez voted for her after watching her bring one of the “assertive voices demanding an answer about the obvious absence and illegal nonresidency of former Trustee Katie Williams” and advocated for the reopening of Lundy Elementary School.

Cavazos also received an overwhelming amount of support from the public for president and said she believed that Dominguez had voted based on listening to the public.

Dominguez received a significant amount of public support for the role of clerk on the board, including from Jenna Roberts, a parent of transgender children who said that she had nothing in common with Dominguez, but that it would be a good reach across the aisle. Dominguez ultimately lost to Trustee Tameka Henry.

“Although we are not in agreement on several issues, I believe Trustee Dominguez voted for the greater good of our board and students, not for personal agendas and/or ambitions,” Cavazos wrote in a message.

Both Dominguez and Biassotti have emphasized that they are eager to move forward.

“I am opening to listening to everyone,” said Biassotti, who joked that she was “as surprised as the next guy” that she has enjoyed meeting many of her colleagues.

Dominguez said that since joining the board, she can see how many employees were working diligently for students.

“We’re all less about personality, and more about having a good district,” Dominguez said.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X.