EDITORIAL: County Commission to tackle McCarran name change

The Clark County Commission on Tuesday will consider whether to rename McCarran International Airport after former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The proposal has generated a slew of opposition, mostly from those on the right who don’t appreciate Mr. Reid’s liberal politics or his Democratic activism.

Republicans and conservatives who blanch at the thought of flying out of Reid International Airport certainly have a right to their perspective. Many people don’t like the idea, it’s true. But opponents of the move — much like those of the pernicious leftist “cancel” culture mindset — essentially argue that they can’t ever broker honoring a man or woman with whose politics they disagree. That outlook only perpetuates division and refuses to acknowledge that the sum of an politicians accomplishments isn’t exclusively a product of the “D” or “R” after the name.

A similar airport renaming push went nowhere in the 2017 Legislature, but the commission is comprised of seven Democrats more sympathetic to Mr. Reid. Commissioner Tick Segerblom is championing the change.

The Las Vegas airport currently bears the name of former Nevada U.S. Sen. Pat McCarran, a Democrat who served in Washington for 21 years until his death in 1954. McCarran was selected for the honor in 1941, in part because he helped secure federal funding for the city of Las Vegas to buy what had been a small private airfield on which the current airport now stands. McCarran was also instrumental in sponsoring the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, which helped pave the way for commercial aviation. But McCarran also had a history of anti-Semitism that has prompted many people to question whether it is appropriate today to have his name adorn Southern Nevada’s major airport.

“Sen. (Pat) McCarran, who at the time was probably a nice man, really is passed in history,” Mr. Segerblom said about his proposal. “If you look back at his record, it was not good. The name doesn’t represent the diversity of our community.”

Fair enough. But does Harry Reid’s name represent diversity? A better argument is that Mr. Reid deserves the honor because he is — like his views or not — a political powerhouse who became the most important elected officeholder in Nevada history. Mr. Reid rose from humble beginnings in the small mining town of Searchlight to become the leader of the world’s greatest deliberative body, fighting every step of the way for what he believed was in the best interests of his home state.

This state, like all others, has numerous public buildings named after prominent Republicans and Democrats. Harry Reid is as prominent a Nevadan as there ever was. He deserves the honor.