Eddie Lorton Wants to Be a Kingmaker, But First, He Needs to Learn How to Win
Eddie Lorton isn't going away; instead, he is positioning himself as a political Kingmaker. I examine his statements from an interview and explain what he is doing rhetorically.
Aug 02, 2026
Eddie Lorton has lost another race for Reno mayor, but he hasn’t left politics. Lorton appears determined to remain a political presence in Reno whether we like it or not. In a recent interview, he talks about helping other candidates win.
He explains what campaigns need to do. Lorton calls for reforming elections. He predicts political consequences for those who opposed him. He sounds increasingly like a man auditioning for the role of political kingmaker.
There is just one awkward problem with that role: Lorton has run for political office five times and has never won.
Link: The Nevada Rumble Interview with Eddie Lorton
The show is called The Nevada Rumble. The hosts are: Fred Simon, George Forbush, and Sherman Tylawsky. These 3 all ran for Nevada CD-2 and lost spectacularly, with only a few thousand votes between them, but now they are political experts.
During the interview, it was clear they don’t understand how politics works, as they railed against donors, endorsements, political persuasion, candidate slates, and voter apathy, while lavishing praise on Lorton, calling him a good man and not asking one serious question, even when Lorton claimed to own 10 businesses and to be a business analyst and forensic auditor and expert on city finances.
There were far too many claims to cover. Here are some highlights from the interview.
Lorton Wants to Give Advice, but he Can’t Understand Voters
Lorton says that Lombardo wants Taylor to win and that they need his help. In a quote that reveals his character, Lorton explains.
"he's trying to give us this girl that’s in their pocket, but I guarantee it’s going to backfire on them. That’s why they’ll call me now. They know she’s not a good candidate. They know she’s going to get destroyed, and they’re trying to have me help her,” Lorton said.
But ironically, Lorton admits that he doesn’t understand the voters, which is obvious since he failed to connect with enough voters to win the primary.
“Even though you would like for politicking to be a science, sometimes it’s the farthest thing from it. You’ll never feel it out, you’ll never figure out the voter. And you think policies and issues mean everything, but sometimes they will vote for someone because they were nice and sweet... So you just never know, so you’ll never figure it out. It drives me crazy, too.”
What Lombardo’s Endorsement of Kathleen Taylor Reveals About GOP Power in Reno
In this article, I explain how Lorton reacted to Lombardo's endorsement of Taylor, criticizing Lombardo while also seeking to meet with him.
The Loss is Everyone’s Fault but Lorton’s
Lorton blames everyone and everything else for his loss, including the mysterious “good old boys,” but he doesn’t accept his own faults.
“Well, like I said, even if you represent the people, you’re self-funded, have the right intentions in mind and know twice as much as all of them, the good old boys always find a way to screw you over,” Lorton said.
Listening to Lorton’s commentary, you might conclude that he ran a nearly flawless campaign only to be overwhelmed by forces beyond his control.
“I did the forums, mopped the floor with them, okay? And then we had it made; everything was going great...So then that’s when our special interest groups...and a few of these contractors...called the governor, called the favor in to endorse one of my opponents. And so that’s what cost me the election,” Lorton said.
Lorton attacks developers as the controlling special interests who rigged the election.
“The developers are going to try to buy this election. I mean, they spent $300 and some grand in the primary...and I still destroyed him by twice as much. So the developers and good old boys are going to try to buy this election, and it’s a sad day when that happens,” Lorton said.
And then there is that other bogeyman, the Unions. Apparently they were rallied against him.
“And you know, cuz you know who decides your elections when that happens, also? Your unions. Them people vote in blocks. So you have these people deciding the outcome of elections. That’s a sad day,” Lorton said.
There is always money, organization, and influence in politics. Successful candidates figure out how to compete against it, but Lorton just blames everyone.
How Eddie Lorton Funds His Campaigns and Why He Never Wins
In this article, I predicted Lorton’s loss due to his poor campaign practices, which he failed to fix and instead bragged about being an expert.
Lorton Blames the Election System for Losing
Lorton turned his attention toward Nevada’s voting system. He said approximately 1,000 ballots weren’t cured and that roughly 15,000 ballots were returned as undeliverable. He said that the 300 votes he needed were in there somewhere.
“I do have a question to where, you know, isn’t it funny how a thousand ballots didn’t get cured? …and 15,000 ballots come back undeliverable, but they act like we don’t have a voter role problem. So, there was 300 votes somewhere, so that’s a sad part.” Lorton said.
An uncured ballot is not evidence that somebody stole an election; it means that the voter didn’t fix it when contacted. Mail ballots routinely come back undeliverable because voters move, addresses become outdated, and voter-registration databases lag behind population changes.
Why Are Hillary Schieve and Eddie Lorton Suddenly Aligned?
In this article, I explain how Lorton aligned with Schieve to take votes from Taylor but got played in the process as Schieve wanted to help Reese and elevate herself.
The Parade Became A Political Argument
Lorton referenced Reno’s Fourth of July parade as evidence for his broader political popularity and had used it to gain exposure.
Lorton crowed about being in the front car with the mayor. He claimed 16,000 people attended, in an attempt to make it look bigger than both the Pride and Veterans parades. I estimated closer to 5,000 people attended, observing people 4 deep on each side of the street for 1/2 mile at 2.5 feet per person.
Lorton and Duerr were using the parade to garner political capital. At the city council, Naomi Duerr gave Lorton credit for attracting 70 floats, but they really had 70 registered participants and no floats. A car with ribbons on the hood is not a float, and a trailer with some political signs is not a float.
Lorton criticized Kathleen Taylor for voting against the parade, but Taylor’s objection concerned its cost; she was not opposing Independence Day. Lorton publicly offered to cover the parade’s deficit. The city later reported a deficit of $6,000. Lorton hasn’t paid it, and the city is not holding him accountable for some strange reason.
Eddie Lorton Got the Parade, the Publicity and the Ride with the Mayor. Why Didn't Reno Get the Check that he Promised?
In this article, I explain how Lorton was using the parade for political gain, but he never paid up as he promised.
The Campaign Lorton Doesn’t Talk About
There is a simple explanation for Lorton’s loss. His campaign wasn’t good enough. He ran the same losing plan as before. Lorton talks as though he understands how elections are won, but his own campaign left the most basic political tools unused.
He says that he put substantial personal money into his campaign, yet didn’t deploy much of that money during the primary. He didn’t build an email campaign. He conducted only one text blast. He did very little advertising. He didn’t knock on doors.
His political operation consisted of Lorton and a small group of inexperienced amateur supporters rather than the professional campaign infrastructure associated with a serious mayoral campaign.
Lorton had a few fundraisers and attended a few debates. That was it. Lorton spent enormous amounts of time posting on Facebook, making claims that he could not substantiate, and he attacked people who opposed him.
Perhaps Lorton’s most revealing statement in the interview was:
“It was my turn to win,” Lorton said in the interview.
But we know that politics doesn’t have turns. You don’t get a consolation prize.
Lorton said he didn’t run because he needed to be mayor, which is an unusual argument from someone who has sought the office five times.
Eddie Lorton’s Facebook Problem: Patterns, Pressure, and Public Misrepresentation
In this article, I explain how Lorton ranted on Facebook, making claims that didn’t stand up.
The Kingmaker Without a Kingdom
Eddie Lorton remains a recognizable political figure in Reno. He has a few loyal supporters. He has name recognition. He can generate attention. He can provoke controversy. That hasn’t produced a win for mayor. Now Lorton faces a choice.
He can study his five campaigns and ask some uncomfortable questions. Did he spend enough money? Did he hire the right people? Did he communicate effectively? Did he build a modern voter-contact operation? Did he spend too much time on Facebook? Did attacking institutions and political enemies alienate persuadable voters?
Or he can continue blaming Lombardo, Taylor, developers, unions, casinos, donors, the election system, voter turnout, uncured ballots, undeliverable ballots, and the mysterious “good old boy” establishment.
“So I have my ethics intact at the end of the day, George. I never tried to be a phony person to win those over that would never like me anyway…we have our families. And that’s who I do it for. I’m not out to win over those that want their way. And so, yes, I’ve stuck to my guns and always will have my ethics intact,” says Lorton, as if he can do no wrong.
The second explanation is certainly more comforting for Lorton. The first might teach him something because Lorton’s biggest political problem isn’t all of those other people. Lorton’s biggest political problem is Eddie Lorton.
Until he considers that possibility, his transformation from perennial candidate to political kingmaker will be a difficult sell. After all, before you can teach other candidates how to win an election, it helps to have won one yourself.
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