Nevada went red. That rocks.

A red tide has washed over Nevada larger than any since before FDR. Nevada went from purple to red overnight as the GOP now controls the executive branch, the state Senate and most remarkably the state Assembly. The Democrats lost a congressional seat as well, as Crescent Hardy defeated Democrat Steven Horsford. He could join Sen. Heller and Rep. Amodei as willing to “Stand With Rand” in reassessing our role as policeman of the world. Unfortunately, with the possible exception of Dave Brat of Virginia, all the other Republican congressional insurgents appear to be neocon hawks.

The overwhelming defeat of the “deeply flawed” margin tax would normally result in a well organized push by a Democratic Assembly to raise taxes. With the Republicans in control, that may well happen anyway, with moderate Gov. Sandoval expected to propose an overhaul of the Nevada tax system. We can only wait for his State of the State address, but he will likely meet opposition from the more conservative members of his own party if he pushes too hard. Will school choice options increase, and will the legislature rethink Common Core and mandatory high school mental health screening?

With recreational marijuana now legal from Barrow to Salem, will medical marijuana states California and Nevada jump on the growing bandwagon? If so, will public consumption be allowed in our wide open casino atmosphere?

The election of Republicans in Clark County makes our new Sagebrush Rebellion even more likely to result in Nevada joining Utah in a demand for full statehood. Rep.-elect Hardy had kind words for Cliven Bundy who was being harassed by retiring Clark County Sheriff Gillespie. Hopefully, Sheriff-elect Lombardo will read the tea leaves and leave Bundy alone.

The crushing defeat of Lucy Flores for lieutenant governor is mirrored by the defeats of Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado and Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who all tried to portray Republicans as anti-women and, like Sandra Fluke, demanded that everyone pay for “access” to birth control. Unlike 2012 when Republicans talked about “legitimate rape,” this year’s candidates were silent or evasive on abortion. The two “personhood” initiatives in Colorado and North Dakota went down to defeat, which should signal Republicans that the voters don’t want them to squander their new political capital on abortion, flag burning, drug wars or gay bashing as they have in the past. Americans want economic liberty restored first and are increasingly impatient with the social platforms of both the left and the right. A special shout-out to Jill Dickman who won her Assembly 31 race and, I believe, will present a fresh new image for conservative women in Nevada.

The Republican victory showed that millennials, women, Hispanics and blacks will vote Republican in greater numbers if they have good reason to. Republicans must not take this election as a mandate but rather humbly accept that it was a vote against the Democrats rather than for them. Now they must prove they can govern with Democrats and get a few good things accomplished. Immigration reform, corporate tax reform, reforms of Obamacare are important for Nevada. Nevada’s disastrous exchange website will have to be addressed as we will be on the federal exchange for at least this year. Our embrace of Medicaid expansion could overwhelm budgetary reforms in a few years. Don’t forget our Public Employee Retirement System is on the brink of disaster as well. Republicans will have to show they have solutions for these problems, or they could easily lose all the gains accomplished in this election as early as 2016.