Las Vegas’s Republican city councilwoman Michele Fiore, who gained national attention for her support of
militiamen who clashed with federal law officers during armed standoffs in the
last decade, announced her bid for the elections for the position of governor
of Nevada on Tuesday.

“I have
spent my whole life fighting the establishment. We need outsiders, fighters,
not the same old boring, moderate, compromise blue-blazer politicians,” Fiore
says in a campaign video released on Tuesday. She was seen in front of a car with a bumper sticker supporting Donald Trump.

The video
shows Fiore walking through the desert in a red dress with a handgun strapped
to her waist that she unholsters to fire at bottles labeled “vaccine
mandates,” “critical race theory” and “voter fraud,”
according to the Associated Press.

Fiore’s
entrance adds her to a list of Republican gubernatorial candidates in Nevada
and other purple states who are assailing state-level executive actions that
Democratic incumbents running for reelection have enacted. In Nevada,
candidates trying to unseat Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak have blamed the
state’s sluggish economic recovery on mandates and restrictions he put in
place.

Fiore’s
announcement comes amid reports of an FBI probe into Fiore’s campaign finance
records and tales of physical confrontations with a former political ally at
City Hall. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has reported that agents have
subpoenaed records and searched Fiore’s home in northwest Las Vegas.

 Fiore, a native of New York City,
served in Nevada’s Assembly from 2012 to 2016. During Her time in the Assembly,
she had opposed tax increases, supported gun rights, and spearheaded a
controversial proposal that would have dramatically curbed federal power to
manage public lands and waters in Nevada.

Her ties to
rancher Cliven Bundy and his family put her in a media spotlight during armed
standoffs between self-described citizen militia members and federal law
enforcement in Bunkerville, Nevada, in 2014 and Malheur, Oregon, in 2016.

She sent a
Christmas card showing her and her family with a variety of firearms during a
2016 run for Congress. She was elected to the Las Vegas City Council in 2017.

Besides
Fiore and Heller, Nevada’s June 2022 Republican primary field includes Clark
County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, Reno attorney Joey
Gilbert, Gardnerville surgeon Fred Simon and venture capitalist Guy Nohra.