LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui joined a Clark County School District bus driver and a Las Vegas small business owner Monday to criticize what they call record-high gas and diesel prices under Governor Joe Lombardo, Lieutenant Governor Stavros Anthony and President Donald Trump.
The Nevada State Democratic Party billed the event as a chance for “impacted Nevadans” to share how fuel costs are affecting their daily lives and their work — from school bus routes, to rideshare drivers, to the wedding industry.
Jauregui stood in front of a gas station sign in Las Vegas and pointed to regular gas over five dollars a gallon and diesel near seven.
“If you look behind me, you’ll see that regular gas is over $5 a gallon and diesel is nearly $7,” she said, arguing both have reached record highs “since Trump unleashed his reckless war with Iran.”
She tied those prices to what Democrats repeatedly called the “Lombardo-Trump economy,” accusing Lombardo and Anthony of siding with Trump instead of Nevada families.
“It couldn’t be clearer that Lombardo and Stavros Anthony are ignoring the real, harsh reality that Nevadans face,” Jauregui said. “Because of their failure to lead, families have to pick between putting gas in their tank or food on their table.”
CCSD bus driver: diesel costs could reach $18 million
Talia, a CCSD bus driver and Teamster, told reporters she’s feeling the higher prices both at work and at home.
“As a driver for CCSD, I have the privilege of transporting our students to and from school every day, who are the future leaders of our great state,” she said. “However, lately, times have been tough.”
She said she’s cut out trips home on her lunch break to save fuel, and that filling up her personal vehicle now costs significantly more than it did before.
“These days, I don’t go home on my lunch break so that I don’t waste gas money. I preserve it as best I can,” Talia said, adding that her weekly fill-up is about $75 more than before and that she’s now budgeting extra money every week just for gas.
On the school district side, she and Jauregui said diesel costs are climbing fast.
“Our school buses rely on diesel to take our students to and from school,” Talia said. “And since Trump’s war starts, CCSD expects to spend an additional $2.9 million on fuel this school year for 26-27. That could bring our total fuel cost to as much as $18 million.”
Jauregui argued that money could be redirected.
“Clark County School District is forced to spend up to $18 million … money that could be used to strengthen our classrooms, pay our teachers more, and improve learning,” she said.
Talia also urged other working families to adjust in whatever way they can while supporting the Democratic ticket.
“Do what works for your family … economically, financially, spiritually, physically,” she said. “We need to do it together … and support our lieutenant governor candidates and our governor, because I do believe they’re going to make a big difference with this situation.”
Small business owner: rideshare cutbacks and a weaker wedding industry
Las Vegas small business owner and artist Lucy Brownlee said she began driving for Lyft last year to help cover her cost of living. She told reporters that as fuel prices rose more than a dollar and a half per gallon from when she started, driving no longer made financial sense.
“I was driving Lyft, and I was making a fairly decent amount of money for the time that I was spending doing it,” Brownlee said. “But since gas has gone up over $1.50 more than it was when I started driving a year ago, it just doesn’t make sense anymore.”
Brownlee said she’s now only driving rideshare occasionally on peak weekends, cutting back from five days a week to roughly one.
“Every time we go to the gas pump, it’s a painful experience,” she said. “We drive less, and our groceries cost us so much more. It’s outrageous.”
She added that while she feels “blessed” to be able to afford basic expenses, many of her riders were barely staying afloat.
“I’m blessed, I can afford the basics, but I was seeing people when I was driving Lyft that were barely getting by, and needing to use Lyft to get to and from their jobs,” Brownlee said.
Brownlee runs a live wedding painting business and said the wider wedding industry in Las Vegas has also slowed.
“My business is related to the wedding industry, which has had a huge fall off this last year,” she said. “Their income has dropped considerably, but their outflow and their cost of doing business is just steadily increasing. It’s not a good balance.”
Democrats link fuel prices to Trump and Lombardo
Jauregui broadened the criticism to include ranchers, delivery drivers and grocery stores across the state. She said cattle ranchers in Elko are paying more to run diesel-powered equipment, which she argued raises the cost of beef for restaurants and supermarkets.
“These fuel spikes are jacking up the cost to deliver beef as well, burdening the restaurants and grocery stores in every corner of our state,” Jauregui said.
She accused Lombardo and Anthony of being “Donald Trump’s doormats” and said they’ve supported Trump’s Iran policy even as fuel prices climb.
“Instead of standing up to Trump’s cost-raising war, Lombardo and Stavros Anthony continue to allow themselves to be Donald Trump’s doormats,” she said. “Come November, we need to kick Donald Trump’s doormats out of office and elect Democrats up and down the ballot to actually fight for Nevadans.”
Jauregui closed by saying she’s running for lieutenant governor “to fight like hell so that every family in Nevada has a real opportunity to thrive,” including what she called an honest wage, the ability to provide for a family, and respect at work and at home.
The Nevada State Democratic Party press release said the event was called to “highlight record high gas and diesel prices under Joe Lombardo, Stavros Anthony, and Donald Trump,” and to argue that Trump’s “endless war with Iran” has helped drive Nevada’s average diesel price to an all-time high.
GOP response
The Nevada Republican Party issued a statement to FOX5 late Monday afternoon in response to the event.
“Nevada Democrats stood by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as they depleted our strategic petroleum reserves, pushed a radical Green New Deal agenda, and advanced mandates to force drivers into electric vehicles,” the statement said. “They have no credibility lecturing Nevadans about lowering costs after backing the very policies that helped get us here.”
“Governor Lombardo is working to strengthen Nevada’s fuel supply, lower costs, and protect Nevada families from the consequences of Gavin Newsom’s failed energy policies and the Democrats who enabled them.”
“Governor Lombardo is working to strengthen Nevada’s fuel supply, lower costs, and protect Nevada families from the consequences of Gavin Newsom’s failed energy policies and the Democrats who enabled them,” the statement said. “While Democrats continue to pursue policies that drive up energy costs and threaten reliability, President Trump and Republicans are advancing a different path: American energy independence, increased domestic production with more good-paying American jobs, and lower costs.”
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