What if they had an election and no Democrats voted?

Only kidding! After ruling the lower house with an iron fist since 1985, the Democrats aren’t going to be passing any bills.

Part of the reason for the Republican sweep — one hesitates to call anything a “wave” if it involves less than 50 percent voter turnout — is that Democrats stayed home in droves. Usual Democratic base voters, such as union members and Hispanics, were not excited about the slate of candidates. The governor’s race was won by None of These Candidates in June’s Democratic primary, a metaphor if ever there was one.

One lesson for Democrats (and for the Republicans who are about to enter public service, many for the very first time) is this: Politics is about more than winning a title, an office and a fancy set of business cards embossed with the state seal. It’s about doing something. And if you fail to do that, people will eventually notice.

Quick: What was the Democratic agenda in the 2014 elections? What were Nevada’s Democratic state senators and Assembly members going to do if they were returned to office? Are you struggling to find an answer? Don’t feel badly; so were they!

Sure, Democrats talked about better funding for Nevada’s schools, but talk was pretty much all they did. Those who didn’t come out against Question 3, The Education Initiative refused to embrace it. And in the 2013 session, presented with more than a few opportunities to fund education, Democrats balked, or pursued doomed ideas. When soon-to-be-Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, offered a mining tax as an alternative to The Education Initiative, the Democrats retreated into their offices and never replied.

Well, they’ll be switching offices now, as majority Republicans take over. Sadly, the Senate will lose one of its members who was truly unafraid to stand up to special interests. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, campaigned hard for a long-overdue, common-sense gun background check bill. In the end, his convictions cost him, but Jones can rest assured that he’d probably have lost the race no matter what; his reward, such as it is, will be knowing that while he had the opportunity, he didn’t let it go to waste.

The same cannot be said for all the lawmakers who, suddenly and unexpectedly, are out of office. (A total of 10 seats switched from Democratic to Republican hands in the Assembly, and one in the state Senate.)

We can expect to see the new Republican majorities bring up bills long stymied in Carson City, legislation such as construction defect reforms (that make it more difficult to sue home builders), changes to the Public Employees Retirement System, collective bargaining and arbitration reforms, charter schools and public land management. It’s understandable that, especially in the Assembly, Republicans would want to exercise the powers of the majority for the first time in a long time.

But, as Gov. Brian Sandoval said in his victory speech on election night, the GOP has been given a once-in-a-generation chance to lead. That could include fixing long-neglected problems, such as school funding.

It would be a great historical irony worthy of the moment if a Republican governor acting with Republicans in the Legislature was able to pass a Democratic priority that Democrats so often tried but failed.

The point is, voters want to see their party’s standard-bearers fighting, sincerely fighting, to do the things they promised they’d do. If they fail to do that, problems getting voters to the polls become much easier to understand. Politics is about the possible, but it’s also about the practical and the pragmatic. You can’t hold an office if you don’t use it to do something. Action comes with risk, but as we saw Tuesday, inaction also carries a price.

Steve Sebelius is a Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.