Danielle Gallant is a Republican member of the Nevada Assembly and has served there since 2022. She had a front-row seat to the news that the Oakland A’s would relocate to Las Vegas and build a brand-new stadium there as well.
As with any instance surrounding new stadiums and public funding, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the A’s impending arrival and how much taxpayers are on the hook, especially given that there are many studies that show public funding of stadiums doesn’t provide the benefits that are promised.
Last June, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed a bill establishing a public financing package of up to $380 million to help fund the $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat baseball stadium. The bill allowed the A’s to secure up to $180 million in tax credits, an estimated $120 million in Clark County bonds, and a $25 million credit from the county for infrastructure needs.
However, Gallant took to social media on Monday with a video that included the caption, “Nevada is NOT paying for the A’s new Stadium…” In the video, she explains that it’s a misconception the state if giving the A’s ownership money, and is indeed simply lowering their tax bill due to the benefits their arrival will bring.
Given that it leaves out crucial information and facts about the finding, that didn’t sit well with A’s fans and others who are upset by the move. Gallant returned to social media on Tuesday and decided to respond by going even harder, trashing the city of Oakland and explaining why the team needed to leave that “third-world country with the amount of homeless that are lining the streets and the amount of crime that is being committed on a daily business there.”
That only seemed to make people angrier (go figure). And perhaps in a moment of clarity, Gallant returned to X once more to clarify her initial comments about the stadium funding deal, saying she had “come to realize a misunderstanding I had regarding the financing of the A’s stadium project.”
Despite the many studies that have shown a lack of positive impact for taxpayer-funded stadium deals, Gallant said she remains a supporter of the A’s impending arrival.
“Despite the strong opinions this issue has sparked, my view remains unchanged: bringing the A’s to Nevada is beneficial for our state,” she wrote. “This perspective is held in spite of the disagreements that persist, and I will continue to approach this dialogue with humility and a willingness to listen.”
While Gallant did say that we should all “remember we are all human” and that “admitting those mistakes is a rarity deserving of respect,” she did not offer any of that for those in Oakland she insulted in the previous video.
That all brings us to Wednesday when Gallant posted a video in which she responded to critics who said the A’s “bought her vote” with campaign contributions. She says that accepting contributions is simply just part of being a politician and had no impact on her decision to vote yes on the funding deal.
Gallant seems to be stuck in a loop of her own making thanks to something we like to call “poster’s disease.”
Like in so many instances, the rule of thumb to “never tweet” remains a good one to follow, even if they’re not called tweets anymore.