Nevada venture capitalist wants to try hand at being governor

RENO — In 1975, Guy Nohra was 15 and warring successful his autochthonal Lebanon’s civilian war. Fearing for his life, his household whisked him distant to information successful California, hiding his passport to forestall his return.

There, successful Alameda, helium lived a emblematic American teenager’s life, moving way and playing successful a stone band. He got into a apical university, past a apical concern school, became an American national and, arsenic the years passed, grew affluent arsenic a biotech task capitalist.

So erstwhile radical archer him moving for politician of Nevada arsenic a first-time campaigner is simply a tube dream, Nohra, whose governmental awakening came nether Ronald Reagan, shrugs them off. He says helium heard arsenic much, and faced akin odds, erstwhile helium aspired to the rarefied realm of task superior successful concern school, and later, erstwhile helium invested successful companies moving connected cures for cancer.

“I’ve taken connected the likelihood before, and I’ve succeeded,” Nohra, 61, says an interrogation astatine his location successful Reno’s Sierra foothills. The soft-spoken Bay Area transplant, with an unplaceable accent and unremitting half-smile, has made Nevada his location since 2014.

Nohra, whose archetypal sanction is pronounced “Ghee,” successful the French style, present has much than chutzpah successful his favor: He has a blueprint for moving that Republicans crossed the state anticipation to replicate. This month, Glenn Youngkin, a backstage equity multimillionaire, defeated well-known erstwhile Gov. Terry McAuliffe successful the Virginia governor’s contention successful his archetypal bid for office, deftly keeping President Donald Trump astatine arm’s magnitude portion not alienating the erstwhile president’s ardent supporters, and winning backmost the state’s suburban plaything voters by focusing on, and fomenting, their frustrations with the acquisition system.

Nohra intelligibly likes the comparison, calling it “uncanny.”

“He’s been a godsend from my perspective,” helium adds. “You couldn’t constitute it amended arsenic acold arsenic a publication for us.”

Like Youngkin, who poured much than $20 cardinal into his race, Nohra is acceptable to enactment up immoderate currency it takes. His steadfast has investments successful companies totaling much than half a cardinal dollars. As for his nett worth, a spokesperson said Friday that Nohra would record a concern disclosure with the authorities successful January.

“It’s a mission,” helium said. The instrumentality connected his concern for running, helium says, is “whatever I tin bash for the radical of Nevada.”

Newcomers look agelong odds

Reality check: Nohra has to beryllium considered 1 of the longer shots successful a Republican superior for politician that boasts astatine slightest 5 different announced and progressive candidates: erstwhile U.S. legislator and erstwhile Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, Las Vegas Councilwoman Michele Fiore and Reno lawyer and erstwhile boxer Joey Gilbert.

Though the large tract helps Nohra’s chances, the format of Nevada’s Republican superior astir apt does not: Youngkin, successful Virginia, won his party’s motion successful a ranked-choice predetermination of delegates who voted via an “unassembled” drive-thru convention, prevailing successful the sixth round. Republican voters successful Nevada volition prime their campaigner successful a closed primary. That format benefits the campaigner with champion sanction designation and, fixed the party’s rightward shift, the strongest blimpish credentials.

“We each person the aforesaid platforms, You tin prime 1 done five,” Nohra says. “My situation is going to beryllium I’m going to amusement competence. I’m going to amusement utilizing concern skills to lick very, precise pugnacious problems. I’m going to amusement wherefore I deliberation economical diversification is important. So my situation is going to beryllium articulating that.”

He adds: “You know, there’s this large combat going connected close now, who’s the astir conservative. Just look astatine my life. I don’t request to beryllium present and archer you however blimpish I am. Just look astatine my biography.”

From Beirut to Baghdad by the Bay

Laying retired his blimpish cred, Nohra, who fought for Maronite Christians arsenic a Lebanese teenager, cites his enactment for weapon rights saying: “If I hadn’t utilized guns successful Lebanon, my radical would person been massacred by the PLO and thrown into the Mediterranean Sea.”

A practicing if untethered Catholic — helium attends services but doesn’t person a location parish — Nohra opposes abortion. He describes himself arsenic economically blimpish and recounts however successful 1980, erstwhile different assemblage kids were backing Jimmy Carter oregon adjacent autarkic John Anderson for president, helium was drawn to Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric.

“This feline that everybody was trying to marque amusive of made the astir consciousness to me,” helium says. “I ever benignant of resonated (with) Ronald Reagan’s benignant and what helium was trying to achieve, fto radical bash their thing. And, you know, authorities should beryllium present arsenic support, but not the main player.”

He majored successful past astatine Stanford, past opted for concern schoolhouse astatine University of Chicago, wherever blimpish student and Nobel-winning economist Milton Friedman held court. Multilingual successful French, Arabic and English, helium had been dissuaded from an involvement successful vocation diplomacy successful college. His archetypal occupation aft concern schoolhouse was selling aesculapian instrumentality to Asia. Co-workers encouraged him to look task capital, though others doubted helium could succeed.

“It was 1 of those things wherever radical said, ‘Are you serious? You’re going to effort to spell into task capital?’ The aforesaid mode radical present archer me, ‘Oh, you’re serious? You’re going to go governor?’”

Supporting biotech businesses

He landed with a Boston-based task superior steadfast arsenic an associate, made spouse 3 years aboriginal successful 1989 and co-founded his ain firm, Alta Partners, 7 years later. He said his steadfast raised 8 funds totaling $2 cardinal and invested successful much than 150 companies, creating thousands of jobs. He stopped raising superior for Alta successful 2006 and created a caller money successful Spain, wherever helium saw a “huge need” for Silicon Valley-type fiscal enactment and acumen. He relocated to Nevada successful 2014, feeling retired of spot and unwelcome successful the Bay Area.

“With respect to my values, my morals, and, of course, my governmental views, California successful wide and the Bay Area successful peculiar were conscionable becoming truthful antithetic for me,” helium said. In Nevada, “when I conscionable radical from the different party, it’s not truthful intense.”

He adds that his absorption to being a governmental outcast successful progressive San Francisco was shaped by his acquisition successful Lebanon “a agelong clip ago, erstwhile immoderate radical conscionable had to hide, and you don’t privation to fell erstwhile you’re successful your country.”

So wherefore run?

In a word, COVID. Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s handling of the pandemic, Nohra says, near him “very disappointed.”

“Monday greeting quarterbacking is ever an casual thing, but I was really connected the field, truthful it’s a small antithetic due to the fact that that’s what I do. I put successful companies successful that space,” helium says.

After the archetypal mates of months of the pandemic, erstwhile truthful overmuch astir the virus’s pathology was inactive unknown, helium said helium came to spot it arsenic neither the flu nor the bubonic plague.

“I’m not going to beryllium naïve, but shutting down everything and schools and gyms is not the mode to go,” helium says.

Nohra said helium saw Sisolak pursuing California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pb connected the pandemic effect and not listening to experts connected “both sides” of the statement implicit treatment. Despite FDA guidance against utilizing an anti-malaria cause to dainty COVID, helium labeled Sisolak’s determination to prohibition its usage successful Nevada governmental due to the fact that then-President Donald Trump endorsed it.

And aft months of observing however different states handled the pandemic, galore with less restrictions and closings than Nevada, helium said helium had information to enactment his gut feeling that “this guy’s doing it wrong.” Death rates successful states specified arsenic Florida and Arizona, with little strict lockdowns oregon nary astatine all, weren’t overmuch worse than successful states similar Nevada.

“They’re truthful darn adjacent that you’re going to archer maine you unopen down each middle-class household successful Clark County truthful that you person 1 retired of 100,000 deaths little than Arizona did?” helium said.

Asked astir the household of that 1 further victim, helium replies: “Who wants to beryllium (among) the hundreds of thousands that don’t person a job, that are unemployed, (whose) kids who person mislaid the full twelvemonth of school?… It’s each outgo benefit.”

He adds later: “So we unopen down the full authorities for each this benignant of time. It was conscionable atrocious nationalist policy. It did not assistance our state. And the candidates connected my broadside volition archer you it’s wrong. But hopefully I’m explaining to you with information wherefore I deliberation it was wrong.”

Deciding to run

Frustrated, Nohra said helium called an aged fraternity member from Stanford, James Dickey, erstwhile president of the Texas Republican Party, and told him helium wanted to run. Then helium started his research.

“I needed to larn however this crippled is played and what radical do,” helium said. “As a task capitalist, I don’t conscionable leap into things, I ever bash my research.”

With Dickey’s guidance, helium hired Republican governmental consulting steadfast Ascent Strategic. He has had occupation uncovering a day-to-day run manager but says helium adjacent to locking 1 in. He plans to acceptable disconnected crossed the authorities reaching radical done nonstop interaction and with ads, which helium sees arsenic “the champion mode for radical to cognize who I am.”

“We’ve got to spell backmost to product, conscionable basal marketing,” helium says. “I request to differentiate, due to the fact that if I’m conscionable immoderate affluent feline who wants to play this crippled who tin spend it, I don’t deliberation that’s differentiation.”

“I’m precise serious, but I besides person a small spot of irreverence,” helium adds. “This is not beingness and death. I’ve been successful beingness and death. I’ve seen it. So if this is not beingness and death, past we’re going to person a small spot of amusive arsenic we bash it. But we’re besides incredibly serious.”

He says helium prefers flying somewhat nether the radar for arsenic agelong arsenic helium tin arsenic his better-known GOP rivals telephone each different retired and Democrats onslaught the full field. Much of his script, successful fact, is not unfamiliar for a first-time campaigner from the concern satellite aiming close from the get-go for precocious office. He stresses his concern occurrence and not being “your mean emblematic politician,” that moving for bureau is not conscionable an concern 1 tin formed speech if returns don’t cookware out. His candidacy “is a mission, and erstwhile you person a ngo it’s precise different.”

Winning agrarian Republicans

He says blimpish Republican voters who predominate successful the state’s agrarian counties volition lukewarm to him, looking past oregon possibly adjacent embracing his rich-guy concern pedigree and his somewhat overseas bearing. Winning their enactment is astir “competence and heart.”

On a speedy rundown connected issues and top-of-mind topics among Republicans, helium plays concerns implicit predetermination integrity arsenic an contented for some sides, not conscionable Republicans aggravated with the results successful 2020.

He says helium knows President Joe Biden was elected reasonably due to the fact that — helium says with sarcasm — ostentation and state prices are precocious and “we near Afghanistan with our tails betwixt our legs,” blaming Biden for it all. The 2020 election, however, is settled.

“What are we going to do? We’re going to look backwards each our lives? It’s over,” helium says.

He is dismayed but resigned to however Nevada’s Democrats pushed done a redistricting program that benefits them, saying it’s “how the crippled is played,” often to the payment of Republicans arsenic good arsenic Democrats. “You don’t similar the game? Change the rules.”

He talks astir convening an acquisition acme if elected, attracting and moving with concern to diversify the state’s economy, explaining decisions to constituents with information and directness.

On captious contention theory, fears implicit which Republicans person parlayed into a palmy wedge issue, helium cites a idiosyncratic ground for disliking it, recalling the taste and governmental strife that brought civilian warfare to Lebanon.

“The much you commencement Balkanizing things, the much things spell sideways,” helium says. “I don’t privation to statement with the near whether it’s being taught oregon not. What I privation to bash is, let’s spell backmost to basics.”

With education, helium says, that means sitting down successful a country connected Day 1 with each stakeholders and not leaving until there’s an statement connected however to rise Nevada’s nationalist schools from 49th successful the state to, say, 25th successful 4 years.

“I’m not stupid. People are going to accidental they privation much money,” helium says. “People are going to accidental they privation much choice. … All right. That’s OK. Put it connected the table. Discuss it. I’ll lead. I’ll instrumentality the arrows. Just get it done.”

It’s the benignant of optimism from a governmental newcomer that tin marque veterans rotation their eyes implicit its seeming naïveté, but Nohra predicts his Republican rivals volition transcript his plan. He has a superior and a wide predetermination earlier immoderate of that tin travel to walk and acknowledges that the governmental portion of moving for bureau “is thing you person to do, due to the fact that that’s our strategy and I recognize it.”

“I’ve been successful a satellite my full beingness wherever it’s a meritocracy,” helium says. “And authorities is not needfully that overmuch of a meritocracy due to the fact that there’s truthful overmuch much that goes into the campaigns. It’s thing I’m trying to get utilized to and judge due to the fact that I cognize that I could bash champion for the authorities for everybody.”

That alone, helium concedes, won’t get him elected. But neither the likelihood nor the challenges look apt to dissuade him, either.

Contact Capital Bureau newsman Bill Dentzer astatine bdentzer@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DentzerNews connected Twitter.